Editing Meteora (section)

=== Monastery of Varlaam ===
{{main|Monastery of Varlaam}}
[[File:Varlaam_Monastery,_Meteora.jpg|thumb|The Monastery of Varlaam]]
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 [[Monastery|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.<ref>Nicol, Donald MacGillivray. Meteora : The Rock Monasteries of Thessaly by Donald M Nicol. Chapman and Hall, 1963. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.holycross.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat06787a&AN=chc.b1193287&site=eds-live&scope=site. pg. 135–137</ref> 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 have taken around twenty days.<ref name=":2">"Holy Monastery of Varlaam." ''Kalampaka.com'', 10 July 2016, https://www.kalampaka.com/en/meteora-monasteries/monastery-of-varlaam/ .</ref> Monks have been present since the 16th century, however, there has been a constant decline in their presence since the 17th century.<ref name=":12"/><ref name=":2" /> 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}} there are seven monks remaining in Varlaam.<ref name=":2" />