MONK VARLAAM The first inhabitant was the hermit Varlaam who ascended the 373 meters high rock around 1350. He erected a few cells and the church of the three hierarchs on its top He was a contemporary of Saint Athanasios Meteoritis, to the aid of which he came when bandits attacked his cell After his demise the rock, which henceforth bore his name, remained uninhabited It was revived in 1517 by two brothers, monks Theophanis and Hektarios that hailed from the city of loannina