Story
The story of Mount Olympus
You have reached the roof of Cyprus. At 1,952 metres, Olympus, also called Chionistra, is the highest point on the island. The summit and the nearby "Troodos Square" belong to the territory of Platres, and today a British long-range radar operates on the peak.
Under your feet lies ultramafic rock, mostly serpentinized harzburgite, part of the Troodos ophiolite. Long before radar, the mountain had a sanctuary. The geographer Strabo, writing in the late first century BC or the first century AD, reported a temple on one of its promontories to Aphrodite Acraea, Aphrodite of the Heights, which women were forbidden to enter.
The mountain is also a ski resort with two areas, Sun Valley and North Face, run by the Cyprus Ski Club. The lifts carry the names of gods: Aphrodite and Hera for beginners, Hermes for intermediate skiers, and Zeus, with a 380 metre chairlift, for advanced runs.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
Hear this story on the spot, in a natural voice
On Sightlore, the story of Mount Olympus is narrated in a natural voice in 5 languages. When you arrive, say "I'm here" and get your passport stamp.
15 more stories from Troodos Mountains in the app
More highlights in Troodos Mountains
- PlatresPlatres or Pano Platres, is a Μountainous village in Cyprus. It is located on the southern slopes of the Troodos Mountains and is one of the wine villages.
- Kykkos MonasteryKykkos Monastery lies 20 km (12 mi) west of Pedoulas, and is one of the wealthiest monasteries in Cyprus. The Holy Monastery of the Virgin of Kykkos was founded around the end of the 11th century by the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
- Panagia tou ArakaThe Panagia tou Araka, or Arakos, is a middle Byzantine Orthodox church located in Cyprus. It is one of the most well-known and completely preserved middle Byzantine churches with mural paintings.
- TamassosTamassos or Tamasos – names Latinized as Tamassus or Tamasus – was a city-kingdom in ancient Cyprus, one of the ten kingdoms of Cyprus.
- Panagia tis AsinouChurch of the Church of Cyprus, also called Panagia Forviotissa; listed by UNESCO in 1985 as part of the Painted Churches in the Troodos Region.
- Church of St. Nicholas of the RoofThe Church of St. Nicholas of the Roof is an 11th-century Byzantine monastery that flourished in Kakopetria, Cyprus.