Meteora, Greece

Roussanou Monastery

Roussanou Monastery, also dedicated to St Barbara, is one of the most photogenic of the Meteora monasteries. Its buildings cover almost the entire top of a narrow rock pillar, so that the walls seem to grow straight out of the stone.

Roussanou Monastery in Meteora, a multi-storey stone building covering the narrow top of a sheer rock pillar above green woodland
Photo: Patryk Morawiec · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

About Roussanou Monastery

It dates mainly from the 16th century, when the monks built the main church, which is decorated with frescoes from that period. Today it is a convent run by nuns.

Unlike some of its neighbours, Roussanou is relatively easy to reach: a short path and footbridges lead from the road to the entrance. Inside, the small church and the well-kept rooms give a good idea of monastic life on the rocks. Modest dress is required, as at all the Meteora monasteries.

The monastery is on the road between Varlaam and Holy Trinity, and the viewpoints along the road above it are among the best places to photograph it.

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