Rousanou Monastery was founded in its present form during the 16th century, with most historians dating the main construction to around 1545 by the monk brothers Ioasaph and Maximos from Ioannina. Built high upon one of Meteora’s sandstone pillars near the town of Kalambaka in Thessaly, the monastery was created as a secluded Eastern Orthodox religious community where monks could devote themselves to prayer, worship, and study in safety during periods of political unrest under Ottoman rule. Today it functions as an active convent for nuns and is one of the six surviving monasteries of Meteora open to visitors.