The cave hermitage of St. Gregory Meteora

To left and a bit above over monastery of St. Anthony, at a height of forty meters one can find a 3-caves hermitage of St. Gregory. Founders are saints brothers-monks Gregory and Theodosios. The small monastery consists of three, or perhaps more, superimposed cave habitats, old ascetic caves, supplied with typical wooden terraces (the first situated at a height of about 25 meters, the second 35 and the third at a height of 40 meters).

This area is not affected by rain, because it is situated under an acute angle toward the rock surface. This way the wooden terraces survived and even, partly, the ladder.
Writing about this place Athanasius Tsagkarsoulis noted: "In the same rock massive and in a short distance from St. Anthony St. Gregory is located (...). Today one can see the wooden frames of the cave entrance, wooden columns and hanging wooden ladder, dated back to about 600 years."

The chapel was decorated with medieval frescoes, relatively well preserved. The fathers Meteorites came to the hermitage in the early 70s and then firstly discovered the frescoes of the holy founders, supplied with their names and the tombs of the founders brothers-monks (aftadelfoi) Gregory and Theodosios, which were carved in the church. The meteriotoi also found an icon of Hodegetria made on leather and a 14th century deisis icon, which is kept now in the Great Meteora Museum.

The cavernous chapel is oriented south-east, and its three sides are built of stone and one is resting on the rock. Gojko Subotić recently identified the church of the Assumption with the Virgin “para to Pigadion” (παρά το Πηγάδιον) connected with Archimandrite Makarios appeared in the testament of Manouel Ioannaki.
In the sanctuary, the altar is carved in the rock. In the conch of the apse the Virgin Mary in the type of Oranta with Jesus Christ on her chest (often identified as Vlachernitissa) is depicted.

In apse one can see the Melismos with the half-figures of two officiating hierarchs, namely Basil the Great (left) and St. John Chrysostom (right). On either side of the apse niche, the Annunciation is situated, the Archangel Gabriel (left) and Mary (right). Left from the Archangel the half-figure of St. Stephen protodiakonos is placed on the northern wall. Respectively, on the right of Mary St. deacon Romanos on the southern wall faces St. Stephen.

In the area of ​​the sanctuary, on the southern wall, holy bishops are depicted in two zones, namely: St. Cyril of Alexandria and St. Athanasius the Great in the upper zone, and respectively, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. Blaise in the lower zone. On the arch of the conche of the sanctuary the traces of inscription, written in large letters, now illegible, are still visible.

In the nave, on the north wall the composition of the Dormition is situated, and below it one shrine of the founder is carved. Above the Dormition, on the semi-vault going down to the northern wall of the church one can see the Transfiguration of Christ.

Similarly the other semi-vault, descending to the south wall, is occupied by the Descent into Hell (= Resurrection of the Lord), and in the lower zone of on the southern wall St Nicolas (a big half-figure), Saint Panteleimon and the holy Anargyroi Kosmas and Damianos (full figures).

Above the entrance on the west wall there are three female saints: St. Marina, St. Anastasia Pharmakolyptria and St. Paraskeve. On the right inlet on the west wall there is prophet Daniel, while on the left inlet on the west wall, basically above the tomb of the founder, one can find the Myrrh-bearing women at the Tomb of Christ with the angel.
This way, the whole program of the small chapel has funerary subject, while the Dormition placed above the first grave depicts the moment of the ideal death, similar to sleep, witnessed by Apostles and bishops and accomplished through taking to the heavens, the scenes of the Descent into Hell and Myrrh-bearing women at the Tomb of Christ are promises of future resurrection. Simultaneously, the placement of Daniel in the same zone reminds about the Last Judgement and the Kingdom of Christ (Daniel: ch. 7-12). While presence of holy doctors can be understood both ways, they are protectors of human health, but also healers of human souls. The rest of the program has liturgical meaning, namely the scene of transfiguration, figures of the officiating bishops and the Virgin with the Child witness and symbolize the mystery of Christian service. Therefore one can assume that the chapel was intended for burials and commemorative services at the time it was painted.

The outer west wall of the chapel, flanking the entrance, holy Theodores (on the left) and the archangel Michael (on the right) are depicted. next to Sts. Theodores, left from the entrance is the second tomb.

The outer southern wall has two registers; from the down part of the window up are St. Demetrios, St. George and the Deisis (Christ, Mary, John the Baptist). In the lower zone one can see the great ascetics of the Church: Anthony, Euthymios, Arsenios, John Klimakos, Pachomios, Ephrem the Syrian, Theodosius, Onoufrios and Makarios. On the eastern part of the exterior southern wall there are portraits of the founders, brothers-monks Gregory and Theodosios. In the same place with the founders there are following inscriptions:

1) Δέησις του δουλου του Θ(εο)υ Γρηγορηου αμαρτολού κε κτήτορος. Μνήστητι Κ(υ)ριε τον γονέον μου Μανουήλ· ϊερέος· κα(ι) της σ(υμ)βήου αυτού Άνης κα(ι) τον ται (=τέκνων?) αυτώ[ν].

2)  Δέησις του δούλου του Θ(εο)υ Θεοδοσήου ηερομονάχου.

Gojko Subotić also informs us about the dedicatory inscription placed above the entrance to the church, which gives the dating with 6883 (1374-75):

† Ανηγερθην ο θήος κ(αι) πάνσεπτος ναος ουτος της ηπερεβλογημέν[ης] δεσπηνής ημόν Θεοτόκου· δια κ(αι) (ε)ξόδου Γρηγορηου αμαρτολο[υ] [κ]τήτορος· μετα του αυταδέλφου Θεοδοσήου· ϊερομοναχου αρχϊερατέβοντος Ματ[θέου] της αγηοτάτης επησκοπης Σταγΐων [͵ϛωπ]γ  ἰν(δικτιώνος) ιγ

According to Subotić, who reconstructed the unpreserved date, one of the special characteristics of this inscription is the absence of the higher authority mentioned (as it was a bit earlier, in 1366-67, in Ipapante-Υπαπαντής monastery, where as a higher authority the king Simeon Uroš is referred). The reason for this is that the son and successor of Simeon, Jovan Uroš, already in late 1372 or early 1373, retired to the monastery of the Transfiguration, the Great Meteora, as monk Ioasaf. Finally, the proposed date agrees with the style of the frescoes. Along with the remains of frescoes in the chapel of St. Anthony in St. Nicholas Anapafsas (Αναπαυσά), and especially with the well preserved representations in the eastern part of the three-aisled church of Panagia Kastraki, their style indicates that the décor fo the cell of St. Gregory belongs a broader set of painting of that era.

Serbian Byzantinist assumes the possibly that the second founder, Theodosios, was also founder of namesakes cave monastic house of St. Theodosios in Gavros of Kalambaka, because its church has well preserved remnants of mural belonging to the 14th century. However, we have no written evidence that the cave church of St. Theodosios in Gavros with existing cells belonged to the monastery of Doupiani or the cells of the Great Meteoron.

Nowadays the caves are inaccessible without special alpinist equipment.

Video of the skete, between mins. 12.34-15.35  the monk shows some frescoes inside the church.

Bibliography:

http://meteoritikoiantilaloi.blogspot.hu/2014/05/blog-post_26.html

 G. Subotić, «Počeci monaškog života i crkvi manastira Sretenja u Meteorima», ZLU 2 (1966), 125-. 181

G. Subotić, "Η τέχνη των βυζαντινοσέρβων ευγενών στην Ελλάδα κατά τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες του ΙΔ αιώνα," in: Byzantium and Serbia the 14th Century (NHRF/IBR, International Symposium 3), Athens 1996, 169-179.

G. Subotić – I. Simonopetritis, L’iconostase et les fresques de la fin du XIVe siècle dans le monastère de la Transfiguration aux Météores, in Actes du XVe Congres International d’Etudes Byzantines, Athènes –Septembre 1976, II Art et Archéologie – Communications B, Athènes 1981, 751-758