Between Heaven and Earth: Europe’s Most Sacred Spaces

Across Europe, faith has often found its home not just in towering cathedrals or gilded basilicas, but in the living earth itself. Monasteries cling to cliffs, chapels hide beneath rocks, and frescoes bloom on raw cave walls.

These sanctuaries blur the line between the human and the divine, standing as much a part of the landscape as the rivers and mountains that surround them.

Here are seven extraordinary places where worship has been carved, tucked, or lifted into nature, each worth a journey of its own.

Geghard Monastery | Armenia

In the rugged Azat River Gorge, Geghard Monastery seems to grow straight from the cliffs that cradle it.

Founded in the 4th century and later expanded in the 12th and 13th centuries, its chapels are partly carved into rock, some little more than caves adorned with khachkars and stone crosses.

The name Geghard, meaning “spear,” is a nod to the legend that the spear that pierced Christ’s side was once kept here.

In Geghard, geology and devotion are fused together. Inside the dim chambers, light filters softly through the cracks, illuminating carvings that seem as old as the earth itself.

Outside, the surrounding cliffs frame the monastery like a natural cathedral. It’s both fortress and sanctuary, a place where silence and stone sing together.

Meteora Monasteries | Greece

The sandstone pillars of Meteora rise like fingers pointing to the sky, and their summits are crowned with monasteries that hover between heaven and earth.

Built in the 14th century by monks seeking refuge from invasions, the original 24 monasteries were accessible only by rope ladders and baskets hoisted on pulleys. Today, six remain active, filled with frescoes, libraries, and quiet courtyards.

When you’re here, you can climb the paths and step into sanctuaries that seem suspended above the plains of Thessaly. Truly, it’s one of Europe’s most extraordinary marriages of landscape and faith.

Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo | Bulgaria

Just across the border from Greece lies another marvel of devotion in stone. The Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo, carved in the 12th century, form a network of chapels, cells, and monasteries cut directly into the limestone.

Their walls are alive with vivid frescoes painted in the 13th and 14th centuries, some of the finest examples of medieval Bulgarian art.

What makes Ivanovo so remarkable is not only the paintings themselves, but the setting. The frescoes glow in chambers that were hollowed out high above a river gorge, and their saints and angels seem to emerge from the stone.

You can easily pair a visit to Meteora with Ivanovo, moving from Greece’s sky-high monasteries to Bulgaria’s hidden cliffside sanctuaries in one unforgettable journey through faith and landscape.

Sumela Monastery | Turkey

High in the Pontic Mountains of northern Turkey, Sumela Monastery clings to a cliff face nearly 4,000 feet above the valley floor.

Founded in the 4th century, its most famous structure is the Rock Church. It was built into a natural cave, and its walls were once covered with colorful frescoes, as well.

Reaching Sumela is a pilgrimage unto itself. The path winds through thick forests until suddenly the monastery appears. You’ll see white walls that jut out from the cliff, kind of like they’re an extension of the rock.

Inside, the air is cool and hushed, a stark contrast to the dramatic sweep of the surrounding mountains. Sumela is a sacred space where devotion has quite literally carved a refuge for believers into stone.