In the plain of Thessaly, the mythical battleground of Gods and Titans, in the most northwestern part of it, lay one of the most
beautiful and diverse parts of mainland Greece.
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| Agios Stefanos monastery and the plain of Thessaly below |
Trikala and Karditsa prefectures are considered
to be a truly hidden gem with amazing history, unparallel and unspoiled natural
beauty, many wonderful top rated hotels and some of the most exquisite and
delicious tastes one will ever find in Greece.
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| Meteora sunrise |
Many people and tourists on the order of millions visit
the area every year especially Meteora, one of the most popular and well known
sites of Thessaly. But the truth is that only a tiny percentage of all those milions of visitors will
ever discover or touch the true heart of this fascinating place. Most of them
will pay a hasty visit to a couple of Meteora monasteries, take a few shots of
the out of this world landscape with their cameras to show off at their friends
and relatives where they have been, eat the leftovers of the previous week and
then off they will go!
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| Great Meteoron monastery |
Is this what travelling is all about? Certainly not, at least not by any of my
standards. Imagine millions of tourists coming and going every
year in Meteora and most of them will never know that just few km away from
Kalampaka and Meteora lays one of the most important prehistoric caves not only
to Greece but to the entire world, with archeological findings dating back to
130,000 BC! Visit Theopetra prehistoric cave, just 5 km from Kalampaka on the
way to Trikala and discover the most ancient man made structure on earth, a stone
wall dated back to 26,000 BC.
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| The prehestoric cave of Theopetra |
Have the chance to see on the caves’ floor the
petrified footprints of a seven years old child that walked on the remaining ashes
some 60,000 years ago. Think just about that: It’s like travelling back in time
the moment the kid was running inside the cave leaving his footprints all over
the ashes for us to see so many thousands of years later into the future.
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| The old hermitages |
Later on the afternoon when all the masses of tourists
are long gone have an amazing sunset tour organized by a local travel agency that
will be your highlight of your entire Meteora visit. This particular tour will
take you on a late afternoon tour to all the places around Meteora that only
locals know about in order not only to enjoy amazing views but to learn as well
about the real history and traditions of the place. You will see the 1,000
years old Bandovas hermitages inside caves high up on the rocks and learn the
amazing history of one of the most ancient churches of Greece, the Dormition of
Virgin Mary in kalampaka. Imagine a church so ancient and so old that even
before becoming the church it is today it was an ancient temple dedicated to
god Apollo!
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| The church of dormition of Virgin Mary, 4th century AC |
And then filled with all the history and culture of
the place the tour will take you to enjoy panoramic views on the most perfect spot
of Meteora and capture one of the most beautiful sunsets you could ever imagine.
And at that very moment, when then sun begins to slowly and tenderly touch the
back of the distant mountains and all you hear is the silence and an awe
feeling of this magnificent Meteora landscape, in that very moment one can truly
understand why Meteora was chosen by the monks to build here all those
monasteries. Simply by gazing at this landscape you unconsciously perform an
act of meditation, meditating on the immense beauty and awe of all creation.
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| Meteora sunset |
If you are staying at Kalampaka and start feeling
hungry the best places for having excellent grilled plates is “Skaros Tavern”
at the entrance of town coming from Trikala right next to Divani Hotel. Do not
miss to taste their lamp kebabs, one of the best of whole Greece. For
cooked dishes your best choice is Meteora restaurant opposite the Town hall
square, the oldest and by far the best restaurant of kalambaka town. If you’re staying at Kastraki
village then Plakias Tavern and Ziogas Tavern are both excellent choices for
either lunch or dinner.
Another off the beaten tourist track attraction is the
nearby Pindos mountain of Aspropotamos! Aspropotamos which literally means “the
white river” is a beautiful mountainous place of truly unspoiled nature with many small traditional villages waiting to be discovered!
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| Rafting in Aspropotamos river |
If you visit the area during spring or autumn, I
would recommend you to try a rafting adventure on the river. You could also
have a hike to discover the amazing 16th century church of Holy Cross
at Doliana village and don’t you dare miss having dinner or lunch at the
Mantania hotel where you can taste and even take part on the making of the
traditional “spanakopita”, one of my favorite traditional Greek pies.
