The best known of the Meteora monasteries, Moni Megalou Meteorou is an imposing form built on the highest rock in the valley, 613m above sea level. Founded by St Athanasios in the 14th century, it became the richest and most powerful monastery thanks to the Serbian emperor Symeon Uros, who turned all his wealth over to the monastery and became a monk. Its katholikon has a magnificent 12-sided central dome.
Its striking series of frescoes, entitled Martyrdom of Saints, depicts the graphic persecution of Christians by the Romans.
