Mount Olympus is Greece’s highest mountain and the legendary home of the Olympian gods.
Its highest summit, Mytikas, rises to 2,918 metres. The mountain stands near the border between the Greek regions of Thessaly and Macedonia, close to the Aegean Sea. Deep gorges, cliffs and alpine meadows make its landscape sharply different from the surrounding lowlands.
In ancient Greek mythology, Olympus was the seat of Zeus and the major Olympian deities. Mytikas is often translated as “nose,” reflecting the summit’s distinctive form. The mountain’s mythological importance helped make its name familiar worldwide, even though the actual summit is far lower than the great peaks of Asia.
The first recorded ascent of Mytikas took place in 1913, by Christos Kakkalos, Frédéric Boissonnas and Daniel Baud-Bovy. Mount Olympus became Greece’s first national park in 1938.