Legend says that St. Athanasius, founder of the Great Meteor (Megalo Meteoro), the oldest monastery, rose to the top of the rocks on an eagle’s wings. It was he who founded the first monastery in 1336. Since the Byzantine wars with Serbia were at that time, these monasteries were a good, inaccessible refuge. Among others, he hid here Jan Paleolog – heir to the Serbian throne. The monasteries experienced their heyday during the reign of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520–1566). The first religious communities appeared in Meteora at the end of the 10th century, living in caves and hermitages.
At that time, monasteries accumulated huge treasures, profiting from land estates in Thessaly, Wallachia, and Moldavia.
From the 18th century, monasteries began to decline (mainly due to quarrels between abbots and the erosion of incompetently built and preserved buildings). In total, 24 monasteries were built (each on a different rock). There is a complex of 24 Orthodox monasteries (monasteries) on the tops of the rocks. Initially, all the materials needed for the construction and life of the monks were hoisted on ropes, also visitors could only get to the monasteries in this way. Currently, some of the monasteries are open to visitors and stairs and platforms have been built for their convenience. Today, only six monasteries are inhabited and normal monastic life takes place there.