The area is in national ownership under the control of the Greek Orthodox Church. The monasteries are built on rock pinnacles of deltaic origin, called 'Meteora', rising over 400m above the Thessalian plain. Chemical analysis and work by the German geologist Philipson, supported by the Greek geologist Papadakis, suggests that the pinnacles were created some 60 million years ago in the Tertiary period, emerging from the cone of a river and further transformed by earthquakes. The pillars are of brown sandstone. The mountain range to the east and north of the site experiences a wide climatic variation from baking heat in summer to severe cold in winter with heavy snowfalls.
Summer is the driest time, storms occurring all year round especially at higher altitudes.
The potential vegetation cover is described as supra-mediterranean, with climax cover of Quercus spp. Other birds include rock and cliff haunting species, such as alpine swift Apus melba , crag martin Hirundo rupestris and red-rumped swallow Hirundo daurica . Somber tit Parus lugubris occurs in the valley. These are built directly on the rock's surface without foundations as such. The first monastic community emerged in the 14th century, and was most successful during the 15th and 16th centuries.