One of the greatest things about this trip was several of the excursions were to UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Hosios Loukas Monastery built in the 10th century was one of those sites. The monastery was located on top of a mountain - well, actually, a big hill. The scenery outside the bus ride was lovely. It was early spring and the trees had just leafed out. We also passed a cloister on our way up to the monastery.
When we arrived at the site, we walked up a set of terraced stairs. On each side were fields of wild flowers.
These are poppies, and there were also daisies and lots of other delicate early spring wildflowers.
From the first view of this church/monastery, it was obviously a very special place. This is a working monastery, so there are some parts which are off-limits. This church is famous for it's frescoes and mosaics which show the Byzantine influence when this church was built.
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| This is one of the paintings on the ceiling surrounded by mosaics The frescoes are in rough shape in comparison to the ceilings.  |
No one mentioned who was removed from this tomb.
Everywhere I looked, I just kept thinking about the people who were the original builders right down to the stones picked and laid down as walkways prior to 'concrete'.
I think the pictures really tell the story here. This was a great outing. Instead of being annoying, the bus ride to the site was interesting, and short. This site was steeped in a 1000 years of history without shoving lots of details in your face. It felt holy and spiritual. There were lots of places to just sit and enjoy the beautiful day and contemplate the atmosphere of this marvelous place.
Here are the pictures:
