This town in the Thessaly Valley is home to the Meteora, a rock formation with Eastern Orthodox monasteries. It is a UNESCO world heritage site for the 51% who want a different cultural experience which can be explored by foot. {Booking now here}
Kalambaka is a city of the Prefecture of Trikala and the capital of the Municipality of Meteora. It is located in the northwestern part of the Thessalian plain. It is built next to the rare geological phenomenon of Meteora, while the Pinios river passes near it.
The site of today’s Kalambaka has been safely identified with the ancient Aeginion. The English traveler William Leake was the first to make this identification, based on an ancient inscription on the wall of one of the oldest churches in the city (Saint John the Baptist). Later, this identification was confirmed by remains of a fortified city found below Kalambaka. {Booking now here}
The 10th century AD it was known as Stagoi, a Byzantine fortress and bishopric. Of its medieval monuments, only the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary survives. It was a building of the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century, built on the remains of an older church of late antiquity. Remains of an ancient Greek temple – possibly of the god Apollo – have been incorporated into the wall of the city’s oldest and best-known church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
From the city of Kalambaka begins the railway network that connects Kalambaka with the town of Farsala and Athens. The link has greatly helped the region economically as commuters from nearby areas commute to the city to use the rail.
In the city of Kalambaka there are the Museum of Greek Education, the Library of Kalambaka, the Holy Church of the Dormition of the Virgin, and the Natural History Museum. The city of Kalambaka has a continental climate within the Mediterranean. Winter is wet and harsh while summer is wet and hot. Autumn and spring are rainy, with enough cold and humidity. {Booking now here}
The city of Kalambaka is built at the roots of the rocks of Meteora and on the left bank of the Pinios river. In the same place as the current city of Kalambaka, there was the ancient city of Aeginio, which in medieval times was called Stagoi. It is known worldwide for the famous monasteries that are built on the tops of the rocks of Meteora with millions of visitors flocking from every corner of the earth every year to admire the natural beauty and the unique landscape formed by the rocks.
Meteora is one of the most important monuments in the world, protected by UNESCO and designated as a “Preservable and Protected Monument of Humanity”, it is the most remarkable – after Mount Athos – monastic center in Greece. The first ascetics came here in the 11th century, but Meteora flourished as a monastic center in the 13th-14th centuries, as many residents of the surrounding areas embraced the monastic life. {Booking now here}
Kalambaka is also a starting point for its visitors who wish to get to know the monuments and wonderful locations of Aspropotamos, Hassia, Koziakas.
