Greece
The Meteora: Agia Triada Monastery
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The Holy Trinity Monastery (Agia Triada) is the most awkward of the six for visitors to reach, but the climb up 140 steps cut into the rock is well worth the effort for the superb panoramic view of the surroundings from the top. The complex, next to the Saint Stephen’s Nunnery (Agios Stefanos), is seemingly perched rather precariously, and takes up almost all of the available space atop the massive, 400m high summit block.
Part of the Monastery (fictitiously named St Cyril's) was used as the setting for the final scenes of the 1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only. The `baddie` Aristotle Kristatos, played by Julian Glover, had been using the retreat, abandoned in the plot, as a hide-out. Bond (Roger Moore) climbs the rock to confront him, retrieves a stolen device capable of launching ballistic missiles, and uses a spiked candelabra to force Kristatos headlong through a window to his death during a punch-up. |
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An ancient document shows that Agia Triada has been operating as a monastery from at least 1362. The monastery’s main cathedral was constructed in the 15th century and decorated with frescoes in 1741 by two monks, Antonios the priest and his brother Nicolaos. The chapel of Timios Prodromos (St John the Forerunner), a small circular church with a cupola, rock-hewn, and decorated with wall-paintings of fine art dating from 1682, is of particular interest.
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The bizarre nature of the lower rock formations and tree-covered terrain can be best appreciated from here.
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The monastery`s original windlass, wooden platform and net used for reaching the site in years gone by are among the items on display.
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Please bear in mind that all images on this website and my blog are Copyright. They are not free to use and have been embedded with a digital watermark.
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