This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you. “I’ve been here before”, I kept thinking as we explored Meteora, a wonderful mountain area in Northern Greece. I remember this place. Tall sandstone pillars, sheer cliffs topped by monasteries built defying gravity. It was a clear day, but it was easy enough to imagine the valley filled with clouds, making the monasteries look as if they were ‘suspended in the sky’ – the meaning of the Greek word Meteora.
Suspended in the sky – Greek meaning of Meteora
I’ve seen this place before. This looks familiar. And then, it hit me. Meteora was the real-life inspiration for the Game of Thrones Eyrie. The unforgettable aerial kingdom from the hit HBO TV series we’ve all grown to love.
Meteora, the Real Game of Thrones Eyrie
Bona-fide Game of Thrones fans will surely remember that the Eyrie is the ancestral seat of House Arryn, Lords of the Vale and Wardens of the East.
The Eyrie was first shown in season 1; when Catelyn Tully abducts Tyrion and takes him to the Eyrie’s sky cells, built on the castle side with one open side and a sloping floor. Real Game of Thrones aficionados will remember Tyrion surveying the lofty landscape of floating rock pillars in the cloud-covered valley; the sandstone pillars of Meteora.

The Vale of Arryn and the Eyrie returned to Game of Thrones in season 4, when Petyr Baelish throws Lysa Arryn from the Moon Door, a hatch built into the floor of the main chamber which open to the valley below.
Where is Eyrie in Westeros
The Eyrie is located in the Vale of Arryn, in the eastern part of Westeros, high up on a slender mountain. It can only be reached through a narrow path and causeway lined by battlements and guarded by archers. This makes the Eyrie impregnable to any kind of attack not involving dragons, reason why the Eyrie was never taken in over a thousand years, despite being the smallest castle in the whole of Westeros.
