A single black and white photograph set the Adventure Locker team on a journey into one of Greece’s most extraordinary landscapes. The image showed a lone figure standing atop a soaring rock pillar in Meteora, so surreal that the filmmakers first wondered if it had been generated by AI.

“We found a photo. One person standing on top of a massive rock pillar. No caption, no context. But this one image set us off on a journey of discovery,” they explain in their latest YouTube release, “Climbing Greece Sky-High Monasteries | Meteora’s History & Spiritual Journey,” narrated by co-creator Will Lascelles and posted on August 7.

The resulting 17-minute film blends adventure, history, and culture. Will, alongside local climbers Vasilis Theodorou and Teo Papagatsias, retraces the routes first carved centuries ago by Orthodox monks in their quest for spiritual refuge.

“Suspended in the Air”

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Meteora rises dramatically from the Thessalian plain in central Greece, its gigantic sandstone pillars crowned with monasteries that have stood for more than 700 years. Built by monks fleeing political turmoil, marauding armies, and raiders on Mount Athos, the cliffs offered both isolation and protection.

The name Meteora means “suspended in the air” or “floating,” explains Teo – an apt description for that sky-high settlements that seem to rise like colossal mushrooms above the valley. “Sometimes I will be the first to climb this way, and suddenly you find proof that somebody else was here before you. A lot of years before you,” he adds. Small carved footholds, cave churches, and stone shelters hidden in the cliffs all hint at generations of human presence.

At its zenith, Meteora was home to 24 monasteries; today, only six remain active, preserving centuries of Orthodox spiritual tradition.

The film emphasizes not just the breathtaking beauty of Meteora, but the monumental human effort behind it. Monks once hauled stone, timber, food, books – and themselves – into the sky using handwoven baskets and ropes suspended hundreds of meters above the valley floor.

“Imagine climbing into a swinging basket held together by faith and frayed rope, hoping the monk above had a steady grip,” Will reflects. “Legend says the ropes were only replaced when God let them break.”

This mix of faith, courage, and ingenuity defines Meteora’s vertical sanctuaries, where daily survival was as demanding as prayer.

The film also highlights personal challenges. Olya Dendyaeva, Adventure Locker co-founder, had suffered two herniated discs during a solo sailing expedition to Crete. “The pain shoots down my leg and makes it very hard to walk, let alone live the way we used to,” she says at the film’s opening. Despite this, she joined the Meteora expedition, later undergoing spinal surgery in Crete.

In a moving postscript to the video, we learn she is now pain-free for the first time in five months – a testament to her resilience and courage.

Caves, Frescoes, and Living Traditions

Beyond extreme climbing, the film captures Meteora’s cultural and spiritual treasures. At one point, the team come across a cave church, its walls adorned with frescoes, possibly dating back to the 9th century, depicting Jesus, the Archangels, and the Virgin Mary. Scattered objects – a wooden stick and a collection of framed icons – suggest the presence of a hermit who once sought solitude from the world.

“Honestly, I had no words,” gasps Will, emphasizing how the landscape connects history, faith, and adventure. “Just wow.”

Vasilis and Teo serve as living links to this extraordinary heritage. By establishing new climbing routes alongside ancient paths, and training the next generation of climbers, they keep alive the traditions of their grandfathers. “When you go and you do climbing in a place that your grandfather was climbing, you know it’s a tradition,” Vasilis notes.

For today’s traveler, Meteora offers more than breathtaking scenery. Hiking trails and stone staircases wind through valleys and up the towering stone pillars to the monasteries; frescoes, cave churches, and chapels reveal centuries of faith and devotion; and climbers still test themselves against the sheer rock faces.

As the Adventure Locker team reflects: “Lately, the line between real life and AI feels harder to see. But when we sail, we know it’s real. The motion, the wind, the silence – it moves something in us.” At Meteora, the same holds true. The soaring pillars, the monasteries clinging to their summits, and the stories of monks and modern climbers alike confirm that some experiences in life cannot be simulated.

Adventure Locker’s latest film is more than a climbing video – it is a testament to the power of a single image, the lure of exploration, and the human drive to connect with both history and the natural world.

For anyone planning a visit, Meteora remains one of Greece’s most extraordinary destinations. Whether your interest lies in climbing, photography, religious tourism, or exploring living history, the cliffs and monasteries promise an experience as inspiring as the photo that started it all.