Metéora, group of monasteries on the summits of vertical rock formations in Thessalía, Greece. The monasteries are located just north of the small town of Kalambáka. The name was derived from a Greek contraction meaning “suspended in the air“, since the sandstone megaliths on which the monasteries were built average 300 metres in height.

At the base of the rock formation known as the pillar of Doúpiani is the chapel of the Holy Virgin, probably built in the 12th century.

In the period of Ottoman rule over Greece (1453–1832), the sultans left the Orthodox religion intact, and the monastic communities at Metéora thrived; several more monasteries were built in the 15th and 16th centuries. During the last hundred years of Turkish occupation, these monasteries offered asylum to persecuted Greeks and independence-seeking rebels.

The frescoes adorning the walls of the structures mark a significant stage in post-Byzantine art.