User:Anthonynardelli/Meteora

Meteora
The Meteora ((/ˌmɛtiˈɔːrə/; Greek: Μετέωρα, pronounced [meˈteora]) is a rock formation in Thessaly Greece hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries. It is home to six, of an original twenty four, monasteries resting atop immense natural pillars and boulders that dominate the view of the local area.  The meteora is located near the town of Kalabaka at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus mountains.

Meteora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria I, II, IV, V, and VII.

History

 * 1) Construction
 * 2) Construction of the first monastery started in the 14th Century
 * 3) In the 11th and 12th century there was a church for the mother of God where Greeks would come and worship
 * 4) Spent years

-In this section, I hope to cover what I believe is lacking in the current Wikipedia article, the construction process of the monasteries. I want to make this a separate section because the technique of climbing the rock formations and building the monasteries is quite impressive. It is said that the monks would use baskets and rope to haul thousands of pounds of building material up the cliffs to construct six separate monasteries over the course of only years.


 * 1) Ancient History (info rn is in no specific order)
 * 2) In world war two the sites were heavily bombed and raided.
 * 3) People originally came to a small church to worship at the base of the rocks
 * 4) Once the monasteries were built many greeks sought refuge from the Ottoman Empire

-This section will cover its historical context. It is believed that these monasteries began construction in the 14th Century and were mainly used to refuge Greeks from the Ottoman Empire. At that time there were over twenty monasteries that monks would travel between using net and hook.


 * 1) Current Use
 * 2) Today a handful of monks and nuns still occupy six of the monasteries but the main use is tourism.
 * 3) Many people seek to see the mystery of the Meteora
 * 4) Today scientists worry that the moisture of visitors is slowly deteriorating the precious space

-Today there are several monks and nuns still present atop the Meteora. The rock formations attract many tourists to see the mystery of the sacred rock. I plan to add other information to this section. Using tourists websites I found information about why it has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

-Only six of the monasteries are still in use today

Geology
-The monasteries and sacred space are a wonder, but the rocks themselves and how the earth has shaped and protected the landscape is another massive mystery. Ideally, I would like to use the section the page already has on Geology and add some more detail to the history of the Earth. Relating it to different natural occurrences elsewhere that may have shaped the rocks.

Beside the Pindus Mountains, in the western region of Thessaly, these unique and enormous columns of rock rise precipitously from the ground. But their unusual form is not easy to explain geologically. They are not volcanic plugs of hard igneous rock typical elsewhere, but the rocks are composed of a mixture of sandstone and conglomerate.

The conglomerate was formed of deposits of stone, sand, and mud from streams flowing into a delta at the edge of a lake, over millions of years. About 60 million years ago during the Paleogene period a series of earth movements pushed the seabed upward, creating a high plateau and causing many vertical fault lines in the thick layer of sandstone. The huge rock pillars were then formed by weathering by water, wind, and extremes of temperature on the vertical faults. It is unusual that this conglomerate formation and type of weathering are confined to a relatively localised area within the surrounding mountain formation.

This type of rock formation and weathering process has happened in many other places locally and throughout the world, but what makes Meteora's appearance special is the uniformity of the sedimentary rock constituents deposited over millions of years leaving few signs of vertical layering, and the localised abrupt vertical weathering. The complex is referred to an exhumed continental remnant of Pangean association.

The cave of Theopetra is located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from Kalambaka. Its uniqueness from an archeological perspective is that a single site contains records of two greatly significant cultural transitions: the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans and later, the transition from hunting-gathering to farming after the end of the last Ice Age. The cave consists of an immense 500 square metres (5,400 sq ft) rectangular chamber at the foot of a limestone hill, which rises to the northeast above the village of Theopetra, with an entrance 17 metres (56 ft) wide by 3 metres (9.8 ft) high. It lies at the foot of the Chasia mountain range, which forms the natural boundary between Thessaly and Macedonia prefectures, while the Lithaios River, a tributary of the Pineios River, flows in front of the cave. The small Lithaios River flowing literally on the doorsteps of the cave meant that cave dwellers always had easy access to fresh, clean water without the need to cover daily long distances to find it.

Excavations and research and have discovered petrified diatoms, which have contributed to understanding the Palaeo-climate and climate changes. Radiocarbon dating evidences human presence dating back 50,000 years. The cave used to be open to the public, but is currently closed indefinitely, for safety inspections.

Vegetation grows thickly out of the vertical rock walls many due to the water that one is able to find in the cracks and crevices that scale the cliff. Over the past several hundred years, the reports that the Meteora was easily accessible by foot have changed because now one must pass through a impenetrable jungle.

Being such massive unpredictable rock pillars, rock falls pose a constant threat to pilgrims and tourists of Meteora. An earthquake of magnitude 7 on the Richter Scale shook the rocks in 1954, miraculously the thin pillars still stand today. In 2005, such a massive rock fell it closed the access road for days leading up to Meteora.

The Great Meteoron
The Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron is the oldest and largest of the monasteries of Meteora. The monastery is believed to have been built just before the mid 14th century by a monk from Mount Athos named Saint Athanasios Meteorites. He began the build with a church in dedication to the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary. He later added small cells so that monks could concentrate and live atop the rock formations. The monastery’s second name is, The Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration, which got its name from the second church St. Meteorites built. The successor of Saint Meteorites was a monk Saint Joasaph who continued to build more cells, a hospital, and renovated the churches atop the rocks. The Monastery thrived in the 16th century when it received many imperial and royal donations. At the time it had over three hundred monks living and worshipping within its cells. It is still a living monastery as there were three monks in residence as of 2015.

Being the biggest among all the monasteries allows it to have a particular layout filled with many buildings. The katholikon is dedicated to the Transfiguration of Christ and was the first church of the monastery. The hermitage of the first founder of the monastery is a small building carved in rock. The kitchen  or what is commonly referred to as the hestia is a domed shaped building near the refectory. There is also a hospital, with its famous roof of the ground floor made of brick and supported on four columns. The three old churches or chapels include: The Chapel of Saint John the Baptist which lies next to the katholikon sanctuary, The Saints Constantine and Helen Chapel which is an aisle-less church with large vault, and finally the chapel of Virgin Mary situated in the cave.

Monastery of Varlaam
The Monastery of Varlaam is the second largest monastery of Meteora. The name Varlaam comes from a monk named Varlaam who scaled the rocks in 1350 and began construction on the monasteries. Varlaam built three churches by hoisting materials up the face of the cliffs. After Varlaam’s death, the monastery was abandoned for two hundred years until two monk brothers, Theophanes and Nektarios Apsarades, came to the rock in the 16th century and began to rebuild the churches. The two brothers from Ioannina spent twenty-two years hoisting materials to the top of the rock formation, however, the building only is reported to take around twenty days. Monks have been present since the 16th century however there has been a constant decline in their presence since the 17th century. Today the monastery is accessed through a series of ladders that scale the north side of the rock. The museum is open to travelers and contains a wide array of relics and ecclesiastical treasures. It was last reported in 2015 that there are seven monks remaining in Varlaam.



Monastery of Rousanou
The Monastery of Rousanou is believed to have been constructed, like many of the other monasteries, in the 14th century. The cathedral is believed to have been built in the 16th century and later decorated in 1540. The name Rousanou is believed to come from the first group of monks who settled on the rock. The monastery sits four hundred and eight-four meters above sea level. Lying in the middle of all the monasteries, visitors can see the other monasteries as well as the ruins of the monastery of St. John the Baptist and Pantokrator.



Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapausas
The Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapausas is located atop a small narrow rock within Meteora. The monastery is approximately eighty meters high and the first of all the Monasteries pilgrims come across on their way to the holy Meteora. The Monastery was founded in the late 14th century and today is surrounded by the deserted and ruined monasteries of St. John Prodromos, the Pantocrator, and the chapel of Panagia Doupiani. The monastery served as a resting place to pilgrims and quickly got its name of “Anapausas” referring to the Greek word “anapafsys” meaning resting in Greek. Being on such a narrow surface the floors are connected through an interior staircase. St. Nicholas is honored on the second floor where the Katholikon is located. On the third floor there is the Holy Table and the walls are decorated by 14th century frescoes. The Monastery has been restored twice once in the 16th century and again in the 1960s.

Monastery of the Holy Trinity

 * 1) This monastery, in particular, has its own Wikipedia page so using that as a source don’t repeat too much information

Monastery of St. Stephen
The Monastery of St. Stephen is located on a plateau-like structure. The original monastery was believed to have been built in the 14th century, however, a new katholikon was built in 1798 making it the newest of all the meteorite structures. The monastery is made up of many buildings including new katholikon, the “Hestia” (or kitchen), an old refectory that has since become a museum, and an assortment of rooms with different purposes. These include workrooms for paintings, embroidery, incense-making, and needlework. The church's interior was decorated with Frescoes on the inside for a short period after 1545., However, During the World Wars, the monasteries were bombed heavily and ransacked in the belief that the monks were holding refugees. As of 2015,  the Monastery of St. Stephen is home to 28 nuns after its conversion to a nunnery in 1961.