Agios Nikolaos Anapafsa monastery of Meteora, Orthodox monastery in Meteora, Greece
Agios Nikolaos Anapafsa is an Orthodox monastery on a rock formation 80 metres high above Kastraki, in western Meteora. Access is via a steep path with 143 steps and a stairway of 85 steps cut into the rock. Its buildings rise on successive levels: the 14th-century chapel of Saint Anthony with a crypt on the ground floor, the katholikon on the first floor, and the archonaki, ossuary and a chapel of John the Baptist above.
The founding date is unknown; a first group of buildings is attributed to the 13th century and to the anchorite Nicanor Anapavsas. In the first decade of the 16th century the metropolitan bishop of Larisa, Dionysios, rebuilt the monastery, and in 1527 Theophanes Strelitzas of Crete painted the katholikon. Damaged in World War II, it was restored from the 1960s to the end of the century.
The monastery continues to function as an active religious community where monks observe Eastern Orthodox traditions daily within these stacked structures. Visitors can observe this living practice and gain insight into how monastic life operates in such a confined vertical space.
Visitors must wear long pants and cover their shoulders, as the monastery enforces a strict dress code for all guests. It is wise to check opening times in advance since they vary significantly between seasons.
The refectory on the third level is frescoed, and the small narthex holds a painting of Adam naming the animals, among them an elephant, a horse, a leopard, a cat, a dragon and a basilisk. The chapel of Saint Anthony on the ground floor measures only four square metres, so in practice it holds one person at a time.
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