ST. STEFAN'S MONASTERY

Rich in artifacts and accessible to tourists, St. Stephen's Monastery is the jewel among the cloisters of Meteora.

This monastery of Meteora is the easiest to reach for travelers - a six-meter stone bridge leads to the entrance over the mountain peaks. The road to the monastery with the ascent to the top can be used by the owners of an ordinary car or van. This is why tourists and pilgrims love to visit this magnificent monastery, located not far from the unofficial capital of Meteora, Kalambaki.
Comfortable for accommodation and comfortable for visiting, the monastery is one of the most magnificent corners of the spiritual center of Orthodoxy in Greece. The monastery of St. Stephen attracts with its powerful walls, keeping the secrets of centuries. Here are the vaults of monastic temples, giving healing wisdom. Here are the artifacts of bygone centuries that add to the grandeur of the monastic complex.
The monastery is magnificent inside and appears as a fabulous fortress, outside. The panorama of Kalambaka city from the monastery walls is the best in Meteora.

The birth of the monastery

The monastery of St. Stephen was erected on the site of the exploits of the ascetic hermits of antiquity. Even at the end of the XIX century travelers could see the ktitor's inscription on the walls of the monastery. It helps to establish the date of the foundation of the monastery - 1191. Years of destructive wars have left their mark on the state of the monastery's temples and cells. But in the XV - XVI centuries, Venerable Anthony and Philotheus restored the temple and cells. They became patrons and new ktitors of the monastery of St. Stephen.

Imperial Monastery

Emperor Andronik III Palaeologus resided in the monastery for some time and made it the center of state decisions. In 1545 the monastery was granted autonomous stauropegal status.
In the 18th century, thanks to the close ties between the monastic community of St. Stephen and the Romanian princes of Wallachia, the monastery received as a gift the fair head of the martyr Haralampi, which is the main sacred thing of the monastery.
The refectory, now a museum, contains splendid vestments and shrouds, manuscripts, utensils, icons, and silverware, all of which were created centuries ago.

Monastery and Knowledge

Special importance in the monastery of St. Stephen was given to enlightenment and education. At the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, an elementary school was built and organized in Kalambak at the monastery's expense. Today, the monastery helps preserve the knowledge of ancient Christian, Byzantine music and iconography. This sacred monastery helps teach new icon makers, the mastery of canonical iconography.

A special relic

The monastery keeps a piece of the relics of Stephen the First Martyr. This saint was one of the first to suffer for the Christian faith back in ancient Rome. A sermon about Christianity, love of neighbor, and goodness, became the basis for his trial. The Roman court sentenced Stephen to a painful execution by stoning.

Restoration of the monastery

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the monastery became deserted. It was destroyed, bombed and devastated. The monks came out to defend the fatherland from the foreign conquerors of Greece and helped the resistance. For this, the occupation authorities massacred the monks and the leader was arrested. Frescoes were destroyed, temples were destroyed. But time allowed the wounds to heal.
Women's monastery became in 1961 and today has about 70 nuns. In the seventies of the twentieth century, there was already a school orphanage for orphaned girls, organized by the nuns.

The monastery of St. Stephen has a sacred aura of a place of grace. The faith and efforts of the monks and nuns have helped them to preserve the monastery and keep it from ruin during the most difficult trials and dark times. The benevolent atmosphere and the friendliness of the nun sisters gives everyone who ventures to visit the monasteries of Meteora the opportunity to experience the splendor of this sacred place.