Editing Meteora (section)

===History and construction of the monasteries===
The exact date of the establishment of the monasteries is widely believed to be unknown. However, there are clues to when each of the monasteries was constructed. By the late eleventh century and early 1100s, a rudimentary monastic state had formed, called the [[Skete]] of [[Stagoi]], and it was centered around the still-standing church of [[Theotokos]] (Mother of God).<ref name="meteora"/> By the end of the 1100s, an ascetic community had flocked to Meteora.

In 1344, [[Athanasius the Meteorite|Athanasios Koinovitis]] from Mount Athos, later known as Athanasios the Meteorite, brought a group of followers to Meteora. From 1356 to 1372, he founded The [[Monastery of Great Meteoron]] on the Broad Rock. That location was perfect for the monks, because there, they were safe from political upheaval, and they had complete control of the entry to the monastery. The only means of reaching it was by climbing a long ladder, which was drawn-up whenever the monks thought that there was a threat to them.<ref name=Hammond1965>{{cite journal | last=Hammond | first=Peter | title=Meteora: the Rock Monasteries of Thessaly. By Donald M. Nicol. London: Chapman & Hall, 1963 | journal=The Journal of Ecclesiastical History | publisher=Cambridge University Press (CUP) | volume=16 | issue=2 | year=1965 | issn=0022-0469 | doi=10.1017/s0022046900054099 | page=229| s2cid=161659078 }}</ref> The creation of the monastic community at Meteora was protected and sponsored by the local lord [[Simeon Uroš]], based in nearby [[Trikala]], who in 1356 had proclaimed himself [[Emperor of Serbs and Greeks]] following the death of [[Stefan Dušan]].<ref name=Savvides>{{citation |title=Splintered medieval hellenism: The semi-autonomous state of Thessaly (AD 1213/1222 to 1454/1470) and its place in history |author=Alexis G. C. Savvides |journal=Byzantion |issue=2 |year=1998 |volume=68 |pages=406–418 |publisher=Peeters Publishers|jstor=44172339 }}</ref>{{rp|414}} 

Simeon Uros was succeeded in 1370 by his son [[John Uroš]], who three years later retired as a monk to the Meteoron monastery and died there in the early 1420s. At the end of the fourteenth century, Christian rule over northern Greece was being increasingly threatened by Turkish raiders who wanted control over the fertile plain of Thessaly, which they finally secured in the second half of the 15th century. The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding [[Ottoman empire]], found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge. More than 20 monasteries were built,<ref name=":5"/> of which six remain today. In 1517, [[Theophanes the Cretan|Theophanes]] built the [[monastery of Varlaam]], which was reputed to house the finger of [[John the Apostle|St. John]] and the shoulder blade of [[St. Andrew]].<ref name=":2" />

Access to the monasteries was originally (and deliberately) difficult, requiring either long ladders that were latched together, or large nets that were used to haul-up both goods and people. This required quite a leap of faith, because the ropes were replaced, so the story goes, only "when the Lord let them break".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://travelwithachallenge.com/Greece-Meteora.htm|title=Greece Meteora – Travel with a Challenge|website=travelwithachallenge.com|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-date=5 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905155631/http://travelwithachallenge.com/Greece-Meteora.htm}}</ref> In the words of UNESCO: "The net in which intrepid pilgrims were hoisted up vertically alongside the {{convert|373|m}} cliff where the Varlaam monastery dominates the valley symbolizes the fragility of a traditional way of life that is threatened with extinction."<ref name="Janz2017">{{cite book|author=Bruce B. Janz|title=Place, Space and Hermeneutics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPqODgAAQBAJ&pg=PA67|date=29 April 2017|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-52214-2|pages=67–}}</ref>

Until the 1600s, the primary means of conveying goods and people from these high places was by means of baskets and ropes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/meteora_connecting_with_heaven/|title=Meteora, Connecting with Heaven presented in History section|website=www.newsfinder.org|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140524004020/http://www.newsfinder.org/site/more/meteora_connecting_with_heaven/|archive-date=24 May 2014}}</ref>

Under the [[Convention of Constantinople (1881)]], [[Thessaly]] was taken-over by the [[Kingdom of Greece]]. In 1921, [[Queen Marie of Romania]] visited Meteora, becoming the first woman ever allowed to enter the Great Meteoron monastery.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.revistafelicia.ro/articol_1012281/regina_maria_prima_femeie_la_marea_meteora__fotografii_inedite_din_interiorul_manastirii_facute_chiar_de_regina.html |title=Regina Maria, prima femeie la Marea Meteoră. Fotografii inedite din interiorul mănăstirii, făcute chiar în timpul vizitei reginei :: Spiritualitate :: Calea, adevarul si viata :: Revista Felicia |access-date=2015-04-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419154101/http://www.revistafelicia.ro/articol_1012281/regina_maria_prima_femeie_la_marea_meteora__fotografii_inedite_din_interiorul_manastirii_facute_chiar_de_regina.html |archive-date=2015-04-19 }}</ref>

In the 1920s, there was an improvement in the arrangements: Steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau. During [[military history of Greece during World War II|World War II]], the site was bombed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldheritagesite.org/connection/Damaged+in+World+War+II|title = Damaged in World War II – World Heritage Site – Pictures, Info and Travel Reports}}</ref>