Greece Day 3 - Berea, Vergina, and Meteora

Today we checked out of our hotel in Thessaloniki and visited Berea where Paul found a group of devout Jews, Vergina where the tomb of Phillip II is located, and stopped at a monastery in Meteora. It was an early morning. We had to be on the bus by 7:25 with our bags packed underneath. The alarm at 5:45 wasn't fun, but everyone made it.

Our first stop was at Berea. Acts 17:10-15 recounts the story of Paul visiting Berea and visiting the Jewish synagogue. The Jews there were more open minded and searched the scripture daily to verify Paul's message. Another interesting aspect of the Jewish section of Berea is that it was outside the main walls of the city. For this reason, the Jews built there houses in such a way to form a compound with 2 gates. Since then, the Jews have almost all left Berea to return to Isreal, and there is little if anything remaining of the original buildings.

But we were able to visit the area, and the Greek government has attempted to build a few buildings in the old style to preserve the area. The building with the covered steps up to the entrance is on the site of the original Jewish synagogue. And the 2 buildings on either side of the walkway in the second picture are government buildings built in the original style that would have been in use when Paul visited some 2000 years ago.

Our next stop was the tomb of Phillip II in Vergina. Phillip II was the father of Alexander the Great. The mound in the background is a reconstruction of what the site looked like before excavations began. Underneath is a good size museum with artifacts from multiple royal tombs that were part of the mound. The tomb was raided at some point, so not everything was still present, but a few of the more magnificent items were inside the sarcophagus, so the raiders did not take them. Among the items left were some incredibly detailed wreaths fragments of armor and utensils to be used in the afterlife. They also have on display the facade of the tombs which would have been built, quickly painted and then buried while the paint was still wet. Pictures were not allowed inside the museum, so I just have the one from the entrance.

I took the next set of pictures mostly from the bus as we drove up to Meteora. This first picture is of one of the older monasteries built in a cave on the side of one of the cliffs with the village below. Traditionally men would climb up and hang a scarf from their fiancé at the monastery to prove their ability to provide for her as a husband. Today men climb the cliff and hang a scarf before joining the army.

This area is the second most important collection of monasteries for the Orthodox Church. There are about 6 active monasteries built on the top of the cliffs. We arrived at the largest monastery at 4pm, only to find that it had just closed, so I just have pictures of the outside. We will go back to one of the other monasteries tomorrow. As of a few decades ago, the only way to visit one of the monasteries was to be raised in a net. Thankfully, they have now built roads to most of them.

Another practice that was common in these hills was to become a hermit by finding a cave and living there the rest of your life. Food would be sent up to you by the monks in a net. When the monks went to the base of the hill and did not find the net lowered, they knew that the hermit had been glorified (died). This cave was visible from the monastery that we drove to today complete with drawings on the walls and the remains of a platform, probably used as a portion of the living space.

This is a view of the village from the top of the hill. Unfortunately the weather was misty, so the pictures didn't come out all that great.

And finally our hotel for tonight, Meteoritis Hotel. It is a very nice hotel. We should be quite comfortable for our one night here. Tomorrow is back on the road again after make a second track up the cliffs to visit one or two of the monasteries.

 

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