Vacation in Mount Olympus
At
2,919 meters (9,570 feet), Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in
Greece, its rugged precipices rising to a broad summit covered in snow.
It is on the east coast of mainland Greece, looking over the Aegean Sea.
Mount Olympus is part of a mountain chain that runs north into Bulgaria
and south into Turkey and it straddles the border between Thessaly and
Macedonia.
According to
Greek mythology, Mount Olympus was where Gaia gave birth to the Titans.
They were so enormous that they used the Greek mountains as their
thrones, and Cronos, the most powerful Titan, sat on Mount Olympus
itself. It was later the home of the principal gods in the Greek
pantheon who, according to Homer, lived in palaces of crystal on the
summit, eating nectar and ambrosia, the food of the gods, which
reinforced their immortality. Alexander the Great came to make
sacrifices at ancient Dion, at the foot of Olympus, before he went to
war, and today you can visit the museum and archaeological park there.
The town of
Litochoro, which means City of the Gods is the normal place to start any
hike on Mt Olympus. It takes two days to make the climb and return again
- although experienced hikers can do it in one. There are refuges along
the way in which to spend the night. This beautiful, wild area is rich
in flora, having 1,700 species of plants, several of which occur nowhere
else.
