METEORA

I was here: day and a half in June 2008.
Number of recommended days: 1, unless you are climbers, since there are no less than 800 routes.
My score: 4/5.

If we talk about Greece to anyone, it is most likely to tell us:

That Athens is its capital, and there it is the Acropolis, or the Parthenon.
That Greek islands are very famous for their beaches, and names like Santorini and Mykonos ring a bell.
And that the economic situation is fatal for a few years now.

All that is more or less correct, but just as many do not know that the Parthenon is part of the Acropolis, or that Santorini and Mykonos are precious, but its fame is not due to its beaches (the best ones are in the Ionian Islands and in Crete), most people have never heard or seen pictures of one of the most original and charming places in the country, unless they have watched the movie “James Bond, For Your Eyes Only”. Meteora means “suspended in the sky”; it is basically a good number of rounded rocky massifs, some of them over 400 meters high, with a form difficult to explain considering its geological origin: sedimentary and conglomerate, elevated by tectonic forces and subsequently eroded by the action of water, wind and extreme temperatures in a particularly vertical arrangement. The huge boulders lack the appeal of those in Cappadocia, but their size is imposing. As in Machu Picchu, Santorini or Cappadocia itself, someone decided, back in the 12th century, that the place was asking for something to be built on top of it, in this case, a monastery on top of each boulder, because not only it would be spectacular, but it would be easy to defend in case the bad guys tried to attack. The result is another of those places where the action of man has embellished even more a natural place that was striking itself. Registered in the patrimony of UNESCO since 1988, the six remaining monasteries of the 24 that were built can be visited in a complete and perfect day, a mixture of culture and nature. Those who do it on their own will enjoy the trails and tranquility of the place, while those who decide on an organized excursion will have the invaluable explanations of a professional guide. In any case, Meteora is a little known place for foreigners, original and very interesting.