2025 Balkan Travels - Greece Part Two

Ioannina and the Holy Monastery of Great Meteora

We crossed the border from Albania into Greece, one of our rare land border crossing, the others being Kenya into Tanzania and Brazil into Argentina at Iguazu falls.  Our first stop of the day was the city of Ioannina located on the shores of lake Pamvotis.

The Aslan Pasha Mosque built in 1612 CE.

In Ioannina we joined a local guide who took us on a walking tour of the old town founded by Justinian.  The tour ended at a high point where we visited the oldest Byzantine fortress in Greece.  We took in the church and mosque in the fortress and enjoyed the panoramic views of the lake and city.  After the tour we had lunch in a nice restaurant not far from the lake.

Lake Pamvotis from the fortress.

This would be a long day of driving.  Most of the afternoon was seeing the Greek countryside.

We arrived at the city of Kalambaka where we visited, with another local guide, the Holy Monastery of Great Meteora perched on a column of rock.  This and other monasteries, built here in the 1400's, are magnificent works of architecture and were the highlight of the trip.  There were originally twenty-four of these monasteries but only six remain.  The Holy Monastery of Great Meteora is the oldest, and largest of these marvels.

The Holy Monastery of Great Meteora, situated on its column of rock.

In the evening we ate dinner at a nice restaurant.

Holy Trinity Monastery and Florina

In the morning we rejoined with our local guide and visited the Holy Trinity Monastery.  The monastery is accessed by a long set of stairs and a bridge.  From the monastery you have magnificent views of several other monasteries including a couple that are no longer inhabited.  We'd arrived early and we practically had the Holy Trinity Monastery to ourselves thanks to the local guide.

The Holy Monastery of Varlaam, this photo taken from the Holy Trinity Monastery.

After the monastery we headed to the town of Florina for lunch at a family's farm-to-table restaurant.  

To Another Border

After lunch we headed to the Greek - Northern Macedonia border.  The rest of this long travel day will continue in the next post.

Pictures can be found in my 2025-10 Greece Google Photos album.