The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-09
A CONVENT OF METEORA
A RETREAT TWO THOUSAND FEET
ABOVE THE THEssALIAN PLAIN.
visitors Hauled in In the
Rocky Steep-Ancient Structures
Where SiIence
Correspondence New York Post.

most inaccessible of all monastlc retreats
in the world. | hired an old carriage, one
of the few in Larissa. to take me to Tflc-
Gala. We set off at 3 p. m. AS we proceeu-
ed westward the mountains, Ossa ana
Olympus, on the eastern border OF me great
Thessalian plain, doomed up in constantly
more impressive grandeur, and rose pur-
pie and grand, in the last rays OF the sun.
All through the night we traversed the
Pelasgian plain, and arrived before Gay
light at Triccala, anciently known as Trlc-
ca, and revered as one of the Oldest shrines
of Esculapius.
The modern Thessalians are a somewhat
inferior race, who were described to me by
a rich Greek of Larissa as "beasty EEL
lows" Their degradation is due in part
TO their patriotism. They joined heartily
in the national struggle for independence,
which for them, since they were excluded
from the modern Greek kingdom, bore no
fruit, and they nave taken part In the nu-
merous instructions which nave peeh
stirred up since the Greek revolution, ana
nave had Thessaly as their theater' 1hese
successive outbreaks, insufhclently sup
ported, have been easily stamped out, ana
the wretched patriots who supported theml
have been severely punished. The result
has been that the more enterprls1ng GREEKS
have emigrated. and that those who remain
are an abiect, spiritless race. Inc popula-
ton of Thessaly, about 100000, is almost
solidly Greek, about 10 per cent. only beng
Mohammedan. At the time or my WISH
the landholders were generally Turks, ana
the Christian landholderS found II neces-
sary to pay various annoying and BURDEN
some tributes to secure the privilege of
cultivating their lands in peace NOW
Thessalv. as far, as the River Peneius, but
not Including Mount Olympus, is Greek ter
ritory.
was about to enter the denies OF Mou ~
Pindus, furnished me with a zaptleh' or
mounted policeman. L also calleo on me
Greek archbishop, who gave me a letter
to the abbot of the conyents; i mySet gra aSue
allv. and Law in the direction due north,
passing many beautiful springs when
plshed forth abundantly from the ground
on either side. We soon arrived at kala-
baka. and beheld the first of the mohas-
teries. perched on a high rock to the right.
AS we drew nearer to these curious rocks
I observed more carefully their formation:
They are a co~nglomeratee and Look as II
they had dubbed out of the earth. stfIen-
ing as thew rose. The separate pinndcleS,
which number some twenty in ALL were
each once the seat of a monastery, or at
least, of a monastic cell. These ,plnnacIes
or needles rise from a bed or rock OF sim
liar formation with themselves, botn belnS
blush in color, extremely hard, ana mold
ing many small stones imbedded In thelr
substance. The monasterles BROWNING THESE
natural columns 0ike so many st: simeon
stylites on their pillars) are called col
lectively raised aloft," and no mann coulo
be more appropriate.
SWUNG IN THE AIR.
The chief monastery, called properly the
Convent of the TRANSPORTATION, receives
also the name Convent of Meteora. We
oo1roaoIo1 tha haSp of the rock column
on which it stands, 1 in advance of my zap
itch. whose horse had the misfortune to
catch his hoof in one of the holes of the
hard conglomerate over which we were
travelling. When the intelligent creature
found hat the hoof was held fast, he stood
perfectly still until his master succeeded in
releasing it. l saw a couple of ropes
dangling in air, a hundred feet from the
earth. | called, and, when heads appeared
above, L produced and held up my letter
of introduction, whereupon the smaller
cord, used for hauling up packages, was
lowered. and the letter was thus sent up.
The abbot was aWay and the three monks
could nOne of them read the letter, but they
concluded from the seal, and from the TACT
that the strange was attended by a zap
itch, that he was a person or Importance,
and presently they let down the larger
rope. with a monk inclosed in a net at It's
lower end. AS soon as he had been extri-
Gated from the net he spread it fiat upon
the rock and babe me sit down, cross
legged, upon it. Then he gathered the out
side edges carefully, together, putting eacn
hook, and shouted to those above to heaVe
away at the WindlasS.
felt q curious sensation of being
ally in the air, whirling around from the
twist of the cable as | assembled. The
height was about two hundred feet. Ar
rived at the top, one of the monks who
worked the windlass gave me a push, and,
as | came back on the return swing, well
within his reach, he dragged me in, and
the other letting go the windlassI was
deposited on the floor {. the monastery.
Then I was released from the net and be-
much to myself, for the three brothers at
the monastery were ignorant in the ex-
IRENE, and could do little more for me
thar to send at once a man with a horse
to bring back the abbot who had gone a
distance of three or four hours away on
business for the monastery.
l went first to the church, a structure
dating, perhaps, from the thirteenth CEN
fury, of the most regular Byzantine type;
Finally went out upon the @6eautifui
side by the perpendicular rock walls, sur
rounds the monastery. The entire eleva-
ton was not less than two thousand feet
had been traversing from Larissa. This
surface was dotted over with delicate blue
flowers. and the view in every direction,
upon the mighty range of Pindus behind
and over the broad plain in front, was
beautiful in the afternoon light. When
evening fell and I returned to the convent
the monks gave me a frugal supper and
arranged my bed in a spacious room where
many a guest had been entertained before
among others, John C~atacouZepos, EN-
peror of Constantinople, who came to this
convent. was hauled UP in a basket, and
ended his days here as a monk.
A LONELY LIFE.
When I awoke the next morning the
pleasant tones of a cultured voice fell on
my ear, and / found that the abbot had
arrived. His story was that he was a ma
tive of Thessaly, but had lived for fifteen
years at Co~nstantinople as a monk at
tached to the Patriarchate, or palace of
the Patriarch. He had gained the conf
dence of Gregory. the oecumenical Pat1-
arch, who had sent him to Meteora, truSt
teries from the debt which burdened them.
Speaking more particularly of these debts,
he described the methods of the Christian
money lenders. A banker of Larissa. with
whom l myself had become pretty well
acquainted. had lent the converts money,
100 Turkish pounds. at $50 yearly interest,
payable in quarterly installments, i. e., at
a trifie less than p per cent. To clear off
such claims as these the income of all the
had been pledged for five years, and upon
tina one farm the abbot and his associates
were living with the greatest possible econ
omy. But, the five years expired, the
monastery would enter again upon the con-
troll of it's property, and, 1t was expected,
AS we continued our conversation the abb
bot spoke of the loneliness OF the place;
how, not long after he arrived. he had
fallen sick simply from solitude. He left
49, ~ fEn- ay4qa rfn1nw anI tIaaA 4 AAn-