Meteora:
"hovering in the air"
Meteora is in the district of Thessaly. The small village of Kastraki lives in the shadow of Meteora. It is marked by the large rock pinnacles of brown sandstone that were created approximately 60 million years ago by natural causes. On the rock pinnacles are several different monasteries, some names include: Ascension of Jesus Christ, Transfiguration of the Saviour, Varlaam, Saint Nikolas Anapafsas, Roussanou, Holy Trinity, and Saint Stephan. The building of these monasteries began in approximately 1000 CE.
Meteora was originally settled by monks who lived in caves within the rocks. They climbed higher and higher until eventually, their settlements were on the top of the rock towers. The reason for this was the Turkish occupation of Greece, and the monks living in fear of their ways. The monks began building the monasteries by using ladders and ropes with baskets to lift people and materials to the top of the rock pinnacles. Now, there are roads and pathways that connect the monasteries.
Credit can be given to these monks for preserving much of the Hellenic culture and traditions of Greece alive. Modern Greece may have only been a reflection of the Ottoman Empire otherwise.
Interesting Fact: While Meteora has no direct link, or any link as far as I can tell, to the myth of the Minotaur or any of its characters, its rock face and even one of the monasteries were used in the James Bond film, "For Your Eyes Only."
Brauron:
Located at the town of Vravrona, Brauron is visited less often then other tourist sites in Greece because of its rural location. It is near the Aegean sea, approximately 38 kilometres from the main city of Athens, at the eastern edge of Attica.
Brauron is best known as the sanctuary of the goddess Artemis. Artemis is the goddess of the wilderness and of the hunt. She also reigns over childbirth, and is the primary deity for edges and boundaries, such as birth and death, peace and war, culture and civilization. Mythic relations to Brauron include Agamemnon's sacrifice of his own daughter to Artemis to ensure calm seas. As the myth goes, Agamemnon killed one of the stags sacred to Artemis. As punishment, Artemis sent a rough wind over the sea as the fleet was preparing to leave for the battle of Troy. To stop the awful wind and appease his issue with Artemis, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigeneia. In some versions, Iphigeneia was saved by Artemis and made to be a priestess at Brauron. A tomb located at Brauron is assumed to be Iphigeneia's.
Populated in the Neolithic era (2000 BC), the area of Brauron flourished until approximately 1600 BC. The population would then begin to diminish and would never again see a significant population. Brauron belonged to a cult as a part of worship for Artemis. This rural sanctuary would be connected with the acropolis at Athens by Peisistratos, a tyrant who ruled over Athens from approximately 546-527 BC. Peisistratos was originally of Brauron decent. Because of tensions between Athens and the Macedonians, the sanctuary was eventually abandoned.
There are many aspects to Brauron that make it special. Within the sanctuary is the temple of Artemis, a stone bridge, cave shrines, a sacred spring, and a stoa containing dining rooms for ritual feasts. A spring or fountain was a necessary part of a sanctuary as it provided water for bathing and purifying. At Brauron there is also a museum with depictions of "arktoi" or "little bears." These arktoi were little girls dressed in bear costume who danced and ran about in a sacred procession to honour Artemis. The practice was said to be a ritual for girls as they prepared for puberty and marriage. The temples were served entirely by women, although men were allowed on site and even to study there.
Possible connections to the labyrinth myth would lie within an alternate version of the myth. In some versions, Ariadne chose Theseus over the god Dionysus, and while giving birth to his children, was killed by Artemis on the island of Cyprus. Another version tells that Ariadne was very unhappy without Theseus and Artemis, taking pity on her, killed her for that reason. A final version includes Ariadne fearing the wrath of Artemis and hanging herself from a tree.
