The Holy Monastery of Varlaam. Second biggest monastery. - Meteora Greece - ECTV

The Holy Monastery of Varlaam is the second biggest monastery of Meteora. Located very close to Great Meteoro Monastery, it was founded in the mid 14th century by a monk named Varlaam.
The monastery eventually was named from Varlaam who manage to climb on the cliff around 1350. A few decades later, and after Varlaam died the cliff was abandoned by the rest of the monks. The 14th-century chapel built by him and dedicated to the “Three Hierarchs” in the following years almost turned into ruins.
In the early 16th century two brothers from Ioannina, the priest-monks Theophanes and Nectarios, the so-called Apsarades decided to reactivate the abandoned monastery of Varlaam. They settled on the cliff spending many years building a new chapel dedicated to “All Saints” in 1541.
The chapel was finally decorated in 1548. The beautiful frescos in the monastery’s chapel of All Saints belong to the famous hagiographer of the 16th century Franco Catalano. The monastery has preserved the tower with the old pully system where you can see the net, used by the first monks to bring up people and provisions.
The visitors can also see a very large 16th-century oak barrel used for water storage over the previous centuries. The monastery of Varlaam has opened recently a brand new museum, where visitors can admire the excellence of religious painted icons - mostly contemporary to the Renaissance period - and precious holy vestments of the priests from the Byzantine period.
If you want to learn more of the stories surrounding the Monastery of Varlaam, why not joining a 4 hrs Meteora Half-Day Sightseeing Tour that visits the monastery every morning except closing days. We will ensure the best possible experience for your visit!
My name is Eric Clark and I am a world traveler. I have been around the world a few times and decided to help fund my travels by sharing my videos and pictures. I have been to almost every country and would be glad to give tips and pointers. Drop me a note. = )

[@papanikolaouvassilis]

Great video from the wonderful Meteora!

[@EricClarkTravelVideos]

Meteora is AMAZING!!! I did some drone videos too that were great of the area. WONDERFUL!!!!
Thanks for watching my videos. =)
Eric