Going up from the village of Kastraki towards Meteora, between the monasteries of Saint Nikolaos Anapavsa and Varlaam, is the Holy Monastery of Rousanos. The monastery is built on an impressive and theoretic pen, the surface of which is covered by it. Around it spreads the unique stone forest of Meteora and the mountain masses of Koziakas and Pindos in the background. The origin of its name is unknown, but the possible theory points out that it was named after the first inhabitant of the rock or the owner of the first temple. The rock was already known as the rock of Rousanos from the beginning of the 16th century when the founders Ioasaph and Maximos settled. They rebuilt the then abandoned monastery in the 14th century, acquiring its current form. In 1545, the Gianniot brothers built the catholicon, which is dedicated, even today, to the Transfiguration of the Savior and honors Saint Barbara. The katholikon is a cruciform, dichronic, saint-type church with a liti (narthex with a dome), an almost square space covered with a slightly elliptical dome. It consists of a three-story complex, with the katholikon and cells on the ground floor, reception areas (arhontariki), other cells, and auxiliary spaces on the additional two feet. The temple was consecrated in 1560. It was a refuge for countless people during the nation's adventures. During the 19th century, the monastery declined and became a hermitage for the monks of the Varlaam monastery. It was restored, in the 1980s, by the Archaeological Service of the region, and today it functions as a nunnery. The ascent to the monastery used to be done with a windlass, while today, it is done with the help of a ladder and two solid bridges, which were built in 1930 and replaced the older wooden bridge built in 1868. To enter the monastery, men are required not to wear sleeves, blouses, and shorts above the knee and women's long skirts below the knee.
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