Monastery of Saint Nicholas Anapafsas

Smallest active monastery in Meteora, famous for its frescoes by Theophanes the Cretan

The smallest and most intimate of the six active monasteries, Saint Nicholas Anapafsas sits on a low, narrow rock at the entrance to the Meteora complex. Founded in the 14th century, it has a tiny community of monks and a church whose dimensions are dictated by the shape of the pinnacle below it. The ceiling is so low in places that standing visitors must duck.

Despite its modest size, the monastery is artistically significant. The frescoes painted by Theophanes the Cretan in 1527 fill every surface of the main chapel with bold, confident figures rendered in deep reds, blues, and ochres. Because the church is small, you are unusually close to the paintings — close enough to see the brushwork and the expressions on the martyrs' faces. It is less visited than Varlaam or the Great Meteoron, which makes for a more personal experience.

things to do sight monastery
A story
Theophanes the Cretan, who painted the main frescoes here in 1527, is now regarded as one of the greatest painters of the Byzantine tradition. He went on to decorate churches on Mount Athos, but the Nikolaos Anapafsas frescoes are considered his first major work. The unusual arrangement of the interior — three separate chapels stacked vertically due to the narrowness of the rock — forced him to adapt his compositions to oddly shaped spaces, which he did with remarkable skill.