Monks have always been drawn to high, hard places: sandstone pillars in Thessaly, a cliff above a Pontic valley, a granite rock in Sri Lanka, a ledge 900 metres above Bhutan’s Paro valley. These ten monasteries and sacred sites show how faith, architecture and landscape came together, from Meteora in Greece to the rock-cut churches of Cappadocia.

The long façade of Sümela Monastery against a forested cliff near Trabzon – photograph by Ferzan Ugurdag
The long façade of Sümela Monastery against a forested cliff in Türkiye.
Photo: Ferzan Ugurdag

1. Meteora, Greece

Meteora rises above Kalambaka and the village of Kastraki in Thessaly, between the Pindus Mountains and the Pineios River. In the 14th century Orthodox monks began building on top of its sandstone pillars, and by the 16th century 24 monasteries stood here. Six survive: the Great Meteoron (founded by Athanasios the Meteorite in the 1350s), Varlaam, Holy Trinity, St Stephen (a convent of nuns since 1961), St Nicholas Anapausas and Rousanou.

For centuries the only way up was by removable ladders or in nets hauled on ropes; steps were cut into the rock only in the 1920s. UNESCO listed Meteora as a World Heritage Site in 1988. Our Meteora guide covers the monasteries and the frescoes inside them.

Monastery buildings rising above the rock pillars of Meteora – photograph by Jaume Martí
Photo: Jaume Martí
Meteora monastery on a sandstone pillar in Thessaly, Greece – second view by Jaume Martí
Photo: Jaume Martí

2. Santa Maria de Montserrat, Spain

The Benedictine abbey of Montserrat, founded in 1025, sits among the saw-toothed peaks of the Montserrat massif, about 48 kilometres northwest of Barcelona. It shelters the Virgin of Montserrat, “La Moreneta”, patron saint of Catalonia, and is home to the Escolania, one of the oldest boys’ choirs in Europe. You can drive up, or take the rack railway from Monistrol; funiculars continue higher, and a footpath leads to the summit of Sant Jeroni. The official visitor website lists choir times and tickets.

Santa Maria de Montserrat abbey among the mountain peaks – photograph by Albert Vàzquez
Photo: Albert Vàzquez
Montserrat monastery and massif in Catalonia – photograph by Wojciech Toman
Photo: Wojciech Toman

3. Sigiriya (Lion Rock), Sri Lanka

Sigiriya is a granite column about 180 metres high in Sri Lanka’s Matale District, near Dambulla. King Kashyapa (477–495 CE) built his palace on its summit, reached through a giant lion-shaped gateway halfway up the rock. After his death the site became a Buddhist monastery complex, in use until the 13th or 14th century. Frescoes once covered much of the western face, and the polished “mirror wall” carries verses scratched by visitors in the 9th and 10th centuries. UNESCO inscribed it in 1982.

Sigiriya, the Lion Rock, rising above the forest in Sri Lanka
Sigiriya rock fortress in Sri Lanka – photograph by Vinaya Mohan
Photo: Vinaya Mohan
Sigiriya Lion Rock, Sri Lanka – photograph by Nicolas Pelletier
Photo: Nicolas Pelletier

4. Mont-Saint-Michel, France

According to tradition, the Archangel Michael appeared in 708 to Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, and asked him to build a church on the rocky island at the mouth of the Couesnon in Normandy. The abbey that grew there rises to 92 metres above the sea, and the bay’s tides swing by around 14 metres. Since 2014 a light bridge by Dietmar Feichtinger links the mount to the mainland. More than three million people visit each year. The abbey’s official website sells timed tickets. Walk the bay only with an authorised guide: the tide comes in fast.

Mont-Saint-Michel abbey above the tidal bay in Normandy – photograph by Jibstudios
Photo: Jibstudios
Mont-Saint-Michel, France – photograph by Sus Bogaerts
Photo: Sus Bogaerts
Mont-Saint-Michel seen across the bay – photograph by wim denijsr
Photo: wim denijsr

5. Key Monastery, Spiti, India

Key (Kye or Ki) Gompa stands on a hilltop at about 4,166 metres above the Spiti River, some 12 kilometres north of Kaza in Himachal Pradesh. Tradition credits its founding to Dromtön, a pupil of Atisha, in the 11th century; it has belonged to the Gelug school since the mid-17th century. Around 250 monks live here today, among murals, books and Buddha images.

Key Gompa on a hilltop in the Spiti Valley – photograph by OaKy Israr
Photo: OaKy Israr
Key Monastery buildings above the Spiti River, Himachal Pradesh – photograph by OaKy Israr
Photo: OaKy Isra

6. Sümela (Panagia Soumela), Trabzon

Panagia Soumela clings to a cliff about 1,200 metres up, above the Altındere valley in Maçka, Trabzon Province. Tradition says two Athenian monks, Barnabas and Sophronios, founded it in the late 4th century, and for centuries it was one of the great Orthodox monasteries of Pontus. The community had to leave after the 1923 population exchange, and in 1930 refugees founded a new Panagia Soumela near Kastania, Veria, in Greek Macedonia, taking some of its treasures with them. Since 2010 an Orthodox liturgy has been allowed at the old monastery on 15 August, the Feast of the Dormition. After restoration from 2015 it reopened in 2019; Turkish Museums has opening hours.

Sümela Monastery on its cliff above the Altındere valley – photograph by Ayhan Duran
Photo: Ayhan Duran
Panagia Soumela monastery near Trabzon – photograph by Oğuzhan Şahinoğlu
Photo: Oğuzhan Şahinoğlu

7. Bagan, Myanmar

Bagan, on a bend of the Irrawaddy River, was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom from the 9th to the 13th century. More than 10,000 temples, stupas and monasteries were built on its plain, and over 2,200 survive across an area of about 104 square kilometres. The Ananda Temple, finished in 1105 under King Kyansittha, rises 51 metres. An earthquake in August 2016 damaged nearly 400 temples, and Bagan became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.

Temples across the plain of Bagan, Myanmar – photograph by yara GB
Photo: yara GB
Bagan temples and stupas in Myanmar – photograph by Csilla Zelko
Photo: Csilla Zelko

8. Paro Taktsang (Tiger’s Nest), Bhutan

Tiger’s Nest hangs on a cliff at about 3,120 metres, roughly 900 metres above the Paro valley. Legend says Guru Padmasambhava flew here on the back of a tigress and meditated in a cave on the rock face. The temple around that cave was built in 1692 by Gyalse Tenzin Rabgye. A fire in 1998 destroyed the main building, which was restored by 2005. A trail climbs through pine forest past a cafeteria viewpoint, then crosses a bridge by a waterfall to the monastery.

Paro Taktsang, the Tiger’s Nest, on its cliff – photograph by Csilla Zelko
Photo: Csilla Zelko
Tiger’s Nest monastery above the Paro valley, Bhutan – photograph by Jun Mei
Photo: Jun Mei
Paro Taktsang monastery, Bhutan – photograph by Peter West Carey
Photo: Peter West Carey

9. Thiksey Monastery, Ladakh, India

Thiksey climbs a hill in the Indus Valley at 3,600 metres, about 19 kilometres east of Leh. Its 12 storeys of white buildings have earned it the nickname “Mini Potala”. The Gelug monastery traces its origins to 1433, and its temple of Maitreya, built for the Dalai Lama’s visit in 1970, holds a seated statue 15 metres tall, the largest in Ladakh. The Gustor festival with masked Cham dances takes place in October or November. Read more in our Thiksey guide, and spend a day or two in Leh first to adjust to the altitude.

Thiksey Monastery on its hillside in Ladakh – photograph by Manish Gajria
Photo: Manish Gajria
Thiksey Gompa above the Indus Valley – photograph by Palash K
Photo: Palash K

10. Cappadocia’s rock-cut churches

In Cappadocia, wind and water carved soft volcanic tuff from the Erciyes and Hasan volcanoes into cones and “fairy chimneys” up to 40 metres high. From the 4th century monastic communities cut cells, churches and refectories into the rock; more than 200 rock-hewn churches are registered today. In the Göreme area, Tokalı Kilise holds 10th-century frescoes, while the Elmalı and Karanlık (Dark) churches date from the late 12th to early 13th century. Underground towns such as Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu served as refuges.

Rock formations of Cappadocia, Turkey – photograph by Vildan Büyükkaya
Photo: Vildan BÜYÜKKAYA
Cappadocia rock-cut landscape – photograph by Coolbiere. A.
Photo: Coolbiere. A.
Fairy chimneys in Cappadocia – photograph by Birukov Yury
Photo: Birukov Yury

For more sacred places across different faiths, explore our six sacred places.

Sources

Photos: Ferzan Ugurdag, Jaume Martí, Albert Vàzquez, Wojciech Toman, Vinaya Mohan, Nicolas Pelletier, Jibstudios, Sus Bogaerts, wim denijsr, OaKy Israr, Ayhan Duran, Oğuzhan Şahinoğlu, yara GB, Csilla Zelko, Jun Mei, Peter West Carey, Manish Gajria, Palash K, Vildan Büyükkaya, Coolbiere. A., Birukov Yury (via 500px).