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Mount Olympus Photo: 'The abode of the gods‎ - mt. Olympus - Greece' by Athanasios Theodorakopoulos

The abode of the gods‎ - mt. Olympus - Greece, Mount Olympus
user: Athanasios Theodorakopoulos (4 photos)
photo taken at: 1:16 pm 28 Nov 2010

The abode of the gods‎ - mt. Olympus - Greece

Greece | Mount Olympus

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Mount Olympus is the highest mountain of Greece, its main summit of Mytikas (or Pantheon) rising to an altitude of 2918m. According to the Greek mythology Mount Olympus was the home of the 12 ancient Greek gods and goddesses, while in 1938 Mount Olympus was established as Greece’s first national park with ultimate goal the preservation of its natural and cultural wealth. According to the Greek law, Mount Olympus National Park core covers an area of about 40,000 acres in which all kinds of exploitation are prohibited. Surrounding this core area there exists the core’s peripheral zone spanning approximately 239,000 acres, its specific coverage not clearly defined yet within which only certain actions are allowed. However, today there have been serious efforts from local organizations so that the area of the National Park to be increased, since the environmental pressure from human factors is alarmingly increased every year. In 1981 Mount Olympus was declared by UNESCO as a “Biosphere Reserve”, whereas the EU has included Olympus National Park in its list of the most important bird habitat areas.