16 Facts About Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus is formed of sedimentary rock laid down 200 million years ago in a shallow sea.

The Geological Museum of Mount Olympus, located in Leptokarya, provides detailed information about the geological structure of the mountain.

Mount Olympus was historically known as Mount Belus, after Iliad 1.

The action of the klephts in Mount Olympus led the Turks to visit their outrage on the klephts' ally-village of Milia, which they destroyed.

In that period Livadi in Mount Olympus became the seat of the armatoliki of Mount Olympus and Western Macedonia, with their first renowned commander Panos Zidros.

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Whole region of Pieria's Mount Olympus was declared archaeological and historical site for the preservation of its monumental and historical character.

Pimblia and Leivithra, two other towns in Mount Olympus's region, are related to Orpheus and the "Orphic" mysteries.

Between Pydna and Mount Olympus are a fortified bishop's seat from the Byzantine period called Louloudies and the Macedonian Tombs of Katerini and Korinos.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Mount Olympus was regularly visited in religious pilgrimages through antiquity and the early Middle Ages.

Plutarch, writing during the Roman Empire, reported that writings and sacrificial ashes left by priests and religious pilgrims on the summit of the mountains of Mount Kyllini and Mount Olympus could be found intact several years later, neither being washed away by rains or scattered by winds.

Third highest peak of Mt Mount Olympus, called Agios Antonios, is known to have been the site of a sanctuary of Zeus in antiquity based on archaeological finds discovered in 1961.

Mount Olympus was later photographed and mapped in detail by others, and a series of successful climbs and winter ascents of the steepest summits in difficult weather conditions took place.

Coastal northeast slopes of Mount Olympus receive more rain than the continental northwest, so, as a result, there is a clear difference in vegetation, being more abundant in the first of them.

Research of Mount Olympus's plants started in 1836, when the French botanist Aucher-Eloy studied them.

An important book about the plants and flowers, from the beach of the Aegean Sea up to the upper regions of Mount Olympus, was written in 1980 by the Swedish botanist Arne Strid.

In Mount Olympus there are generally four sequential flora zones, but due to the complex topography and variety of microclimates, these do not form an obvious clear sequence with altitude.