Thessalonika, Greece The Jewish community of Thessalonika is one of the oldest Jewish communities in continual existence in Europe, and for a while was the largest. Established perhaps as early as the 2nd century BC, it is still in existence to this day. The Ets Chaim Synagogue of Thessalonika, which was founded in the 1st century AD and survived for nearly two millennia, … [Read more...]
MONASTERIES OF METEORA
Kalampaka, Greece If the monasteries of Mount Athos are the spiritual heart of the Orthodox Church in Greece, than those of Meteora are its architectural heart. Less than one hundred miles away from Mount Athos, the monastic community of Meteora is somewhat more isolated than the former but infinitely more welcoming to pilgrims and tourists. Moreover Meteora’s … [Read more...]
HOLY MOUNTAIN
Mount Athos, Greece While the ever shrinking Patriarchate in Istanbul continues to maintain its tentative hold as the nominal world headquarters of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Mount Athos in Greece has become the spiritual center of Eastern Orthodoxy in all but name. Home to a remarkable collection of monasteries crowded onto a tiny peninsula in northern Greece, Mount … [Read more...]
HOLY GROTTO OF THE REVELATION
Patmos, Greece The Isle of Patmos in the Dodeconese Islands between Greece and Turkey has the honor of being the setting for the very last book of the Bible. It was here, sometime towards the end of the 1st century AD, that John the Evangelist received the supreme vision of the apocalyptic end of the world and the final triumph of God’s eternal kingdom. The Book of … [Read more...]
