Continuing from Part 1
In this second part, we aim to explore the connections between the proto-Greek Minyans of Thessaly and Meteora and the potential for remarkable ancient engineering feats that might be hidden right beneath our noses. In the first part, we examined the extensive engineering project that these prehistoric people undertook at Lake Kopais during a time when the prevailing view of history suggests that no form of writing existed in Greece. A faint memory of the Minyans may have persisted in the local legends and myths surrounding Meteora. We will attempt to piece together the scattered clues and hints obscured by the passage of time.
The Minyans of Thessaly
So, who are those ancient Minyans who had those exceptional technical skills, the will, and the resources to undertake such a massive project in the dawn of Greek civilization? Very few things are known about the mysterious ancient kingdom of Minyans, and the historical sources mentioning them are very scarce. According to mythology, their first known king was Minyas (2), who lived in the ancient city of “Almonia” of Thessaly. Some speculate that Almonia, later on, was renamed to Iolklos, the town from which Jason launched the expedition of the Argonauts. Minyas was also their primogenitor, apart from being the first known King.
The myth says that King Minyas was wise and a pacifist, and he cared much for the welfare of his people. He firmly believed that people can progress through better education and the spread of knowledge. So he became one of the first rulers in history to organize a state-funded educational system for his people. And the land of Minyans thrived, and they became a seafaring nation of great explorers and skillful engineers who left behind some of the most outstanding engineering achievements of the ancient world. The tholos tomb of King Minyas is yet another impressive engineering achievement, one of its largest and most important monuments. The boulder at the top of the gate in the picture below weighs more than 120 tons!
The myth says that after a great flood that happened in Thessaly, some of the Minyans migrated south to an area where, years later, it became known by the name “Orchomenos”, and there they peacefully settled on a hill called “Ifantios”.
“They came in peace, men, women, and children all riding horses and dressed in the finest clothes as if they were going to celebrate and their leader was called Andreus, the son of Peneus.”
Pausanias tells us that Orchomenos was built in the district of Andreis, called after the first settler, Andreus, son of the river god Peneus. (Pau. 9.34.6) It is also known that around 2,200 BC, Minyans colonized Piraeus, and there, among other things, they also built underground facilities that, later, some of them were used to worship the demi-god Asclepius. Minyans, who originated from Thessaly by the end of the 3rd millennium BC, had colonized and controlled most parts of Greece and many of the Aegean islands.
Ancient Trikki and the Mynians of Thessaly
A rumor is circulating among the local people of Meteora that underneath the Byzantine church of “Virgin Mary”, there are catacombs and tunnels! It’s interesting to mention that the church was built either in the 4th or 5th century AD on top of the ruins of an old Apollo temple. The locals insist that the tunnels continue for many miles to the south, reaching the citadel of ancient Trikki or Trikka (modern-day Trikala) some 20km away from the town of Kalampaka! Homer first mentioned the city of Trikki in the book of the Iliad:
“From Trikka, and Ithome of the crags, from Oechalia home of Eurytus, came thirty hollow ships, commanded by Asclepius’ two sons, the skillful healers Podaleirius and Machaon” (Iliad II. 730) (1)
King Asclepius of Trikki was elevated to the status of a god in later periods, and all Greeks worshiped him as the god protector of medicine. Even though he probably lived in later periods around the 13th century AD, it seems that Asclepius continued the long Minyan tradition of excelling in sciences, wisdom, and knowledge. Today on the hill where the ancient citadel of Trikki once stood a medieval castle exists that was made by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I around 6th century AD. The castle was refurbished numerous times in the coming centuries by the Byzantines, the Serbs, and the Ottomans. It has 3 main defensive perimeters and plenty of square towers.
Interestingly enough, the people of modern-day Trikala have a similar story, saying that the castle communicates through tunnels with the old church in Kalambaka! Local legend holds that the third inner defensive perimeter contains a secret opening placed deep inside a well, which functioned as an escape route from the castle during hostilities. This opening was a tunnel burrowed under the perimeter wall and followed a northeasterly direction, crossing the hill’s southern slope of Prophet Elias, eventually leading all the way to the Byzantine church of “Virgin Mary” in Kalambaka.
Rumors of catacombs in the Byzantine church of “Virgin Mary”
If you ever visit the Byzantine church in Kalabaka, you can find a small booklet they sell with its history. The church’s booklet has a vague reference to the existence of an “underground place”. According to the brochure, a “deep crypt” was found inside the sanctuary a few decades ago during a church survey by a team of Greek archaeologists. The crypt’s entrance was found hidden underneath a marble throne in the sanctuary—a very ancient feature of early-Christian churches, which the paleochristian bishops used. The booklet specifies that the crypt was mainly used to hide the church’s valuable items, but it was also big enough for the Christians to hide there!
So the crypt mentioned in the booklet wasn’t just a small opening but a big enough place to accommodate numerous people. Could it be that the underground crypt those early Christians used was a small part of a vast ancient network of tunnels the Minyans made for whatever reason thousands of years ago? Today, there is no other available information or concrete evidence except the clues I’ve posted above, and frankly, the only thing we can do today is to speculate, mostly.
Archeological evidence
The archaeologists who surveyed the church in the ’60s probably had a quick look inside the newly discovered “crypt.” They sealed it without ever publishing or saying anything about what they saw or found down there. Neither the priest of the church, who certainly knows a lot, seems to want to make any comments on the subject beyond the things we know already. In my view, the Minyans are the only proto-Greek culture that displayed the capacity and the know-how to undertake massive projects 5,000 years ago, like the ones that seem to exist underneath the church and in the citadel of Trikala. It is up to future archaeologists to prove whether such underground constructions exist. And until that happens, the local legends and myths will continue to spread their faint memory.
Names of heroes and gods are preserved in our myths. Legends of a heroic past that stayed hidden behind the thick mists of time and history. I guess such is the cycle in life for all things. And those who follow will hear and learn one day the same legends and myths as we did before them. Some will dare to dream that their names will be written next to those great heroes and kings of the past. And all of them will be mentioned in the whispers of immortal mountains and of the winds as they sing to each other the brave deeds of those few men who chose to stand in the dawn of time side by side with gods, fighting the Titans and building monuments to withstand the wrath of time.
Explore Ancient Meteora from Athens
2-Day Meteora Tour from Athens
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