The Monastery of St. Varlaam is an Eastern Orthodox monastery that is part of the Meteora monastery complex in Thessaly, central Greece. It is situated at the top of a rocky precipice that is 380 yards above the valley floor.
The Monastery of Varlaam is the second largest monastery of Meteora. The name Varlaam comes from a monk named Varlaam who scaled the rocks in 1350 and began construction on the monasteries. Varlaam built three churches by hoisting materials up the face of the cliffs. After Varlaam’s death, the monastery was abandoned for two hundred years until two monk brothers, Theophanes and Nektarios Apsarades, came to the rock in the 16th century and began to rebuild the churches in October 1517. The two brothers from Ioannina spent twenty-two years hoisting materials to the top of the rock formation, however, the building only is reported to take around twenty days. Monks have been present since the 16th century, however, there has been a constant decline in their presence since the 17th century. Today the monastery is accessed through a series of ladders that scale the north side of the rock. The museum is open to travelers and contains a wide array of relics and ecclesiastical treasures. As of 2015 that there are seven monks remaining in Varlaam.
The Dragon Cave is located to the south, below the monastery. To the east, the ruins of Kelarakia Rock (39.72514°N 21.63241°E) can be seen today. The Cell of St. Paul the Apostle can probably be identified with Kelarakia.
