Page 34 - AECA.org.uk ¦ Koinonia 65

climbing on the peaks and the cavities that had been formed, so as to live away
from society.

According to tradition, the ?rst hermits had already settled by 9th cen-
tury AD. This spiritual place has given Orthodoxy countless saints, leaving be-
hind important work and fascinating monasteries with unparalleled ico-
nographic works from the Cretan and Macedonian School of Byzantine Ico-
nography. Currently there are six monasteries, which are all that remain from
the glorious past, of more than twenty monasteries. Unlike Mount Athos, men
and women are permitted to visit Meteora (two out of the six monastic com-
munities are female monasteries). Ideally, two days are more than enough to see
the monasteries. However, it should be stated that people with disabilities or
elderly people will ?nd it challenging to reach the monasteries, since they are
mostly on top of the huge rockfaces. The largest monastery (The Holy Monas-
tery of Grand Meteoron), for example, has more than 250 steps to climb.

In order to reach Meteora its best to ?y to Athens; from there you can
either take a coach or the train, which run frequently and the tickets are not
expensive. The journey is about ?ve hours. Nevertheless, the beautiful journey
from the Greek capital to Meteora passes through many historical sites, includ-
ing Thermopylae (the Golden Gates), where the Greeks fought against the Per-
sian Empire, whilst also passing through a number of cities, mountains and
valleys.

Greek Islands

The Greek islands are one of the most famous holiday destinations. However,
they also maintain a religious importance, where a unique ecclesiastical archi-
tectural style is maintained. Some of the most characteristic style churches in
the Greek world are found on the islands of the Aegean, especially in the Cy-
clades, with their white stone walls and blue domes, uniting thus the colours of
the Greek ?ag and the colours of the sky and the sea. However, on the islands
in the Ionian Sea, the visitor ?nds greater Western in?uence, in architecture
and iconography. Each Greek island has a special veneration for a saint, making
each one unique. Some of the most famous religious destinations are: the holy
island of Tinos (where thousands of Greeks visit frequently the Church of
Panagia Evanggelistria), the holy island of Patmos (where St. John the Evangel-
ist wrote the Book of Revelation), whilst a number of islands in the Dode-
canese (including Rhodes and Symi) have a special veneration for the Angels
and Archangels. The three islands in the Ionian Sea which have the whole bod-

32