Summit of Olympus - Mytikas
The highest mountain in Greece is the legendary Mount Olympus, or rather one of its peaks is Mytikas, reaching a height of 2919 meters above sea level. Olympus is located on the border of Greek Thessaly and the Republic of Macedonia. Mount Olympus is not one peak or two peaks, it is about 50 peaks, the heights of which range from 760 to 2919 meters. These peaks are cut by numerous ravines, which create beautiful and terrifying landscapes. The highest mountain in Greece was conquered only in 1913.
In ancient times, the Greeks believed that twelve main gods lived on Mount Olympus, who, under the leadership of the main god Zeus, crushed the Titans, and after that order reigned in the world.
Climbing Olympus
Top of Olympus all year round covered with snow, and when the weather is clear, it sparkles in the sun. The length of the ridge, which includes Mount Olympus, is 20 kilometers.
Ordinary tourists do not rise higher than the foot of Olympus. However, people with special training can reach the top within 6 hours. The base for climbing the mountain and visiting the reserve is the village of Litokhoron, located near the foot of the mountain.
Olympic Reserve
The area adjacent to the mountain has been a national nature reserve since 1938. There is a rich flora and fauna here. Some animals are relict. Here you can meet deer, badgers, wild boars, and forest wild cats. About 1,700 plant species grow on Mount Olympus. There are birch and oak forests, groves of Macedonian spruce. For many centuries, a unique yew grove has been growing in the vicinity of the Dionysius Monastery.
The name Mount Olympus has long become a common noun, meaning something grandiose. Even the highest mountain on the planet Mars is called Olympus.
The highest mountains different countries such as Hungary, Austria, Greece and Argentina are presented in the table below.
This article briefly describes the highest mountains in different countries of Europe and America. The name and height are given. Some descriptions about their names, locations and more are provided.
Highest mountain in Hungary
Hungary is located 200 meters above sea level, and at the same time it does not have high mountains. The highest mountain in Hungary is Kekes. In English it means “bluish” in front. Well, indeed, if you look at the mountain from a distance, it seems bluish.
Mount Kekesh is included in mountain range Matra, being the longest ski slope in Hungary. Its length is about 2 km. The mountain is ideal for beginners. Its height is 1014 meters above sea level. It is located between the cities of Eger and Gyöngyös.
After Lake Balaton and the Danube, Kekes is one of the most popular attractions in Hungary.
The highest mountain in Hungary is Kekes, 1014 meters high.
Highest mountain in Austria
A quarter of Austria is occupied by the ridges of the Eastern Alps, united in chains. The most impressive landmark of the country and at the same time the most high mountain Austria is Grossglockner. This mountain has 2 peaks: Großglockner and Kleinglockner. The height of Grossglockner is 3798 meters, the second peak is slightly lower and reaches a height of 3770 meters. There is a pass between the peaks, and at the foot there is the largest glacier - Pasterze.
The highest mountain in Austria is Grossglockner, 3798 meters high.
Highest mountain in Greece
Known for ancient greek mythology Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, where 12 gods lived, led by Zeus.
In ancient times, Mount Olympus was the border between two states - Thessaly and Macedonia. Today, the entire area surrounding the mountain range has been declared a national park. Since 1981, the mountain has been recognized as part of the World Natural Heritage and a historical and architectural heritage site by UNESCO.
There are 52 peaks on the mountain, the heights of which vary from 760 to 2917 meters. The most high peak Olympus - Mitakis, whose height is 2917 meters. The second and third places were taken by the peaks of Scolio, 2912 meters high, and Stefani, 2905 meters high.
The highest mountain in Greece is Olympus, the highest peak of Olympus is Metakis, 2917 meters high.
Highest mountain in Argentina
Aconcagua rises 6962 meters in height, and is the highest point of South America, as well as the entire southern and western hemispheres.
The mountain appeared at the time of the collision of the South American and Nazca tectonic plates. Today the mountain is completely covered with snow. The name of the mountain is translated into Russian as Stone Guardian.
The highest mountain in Argentina is Aconcagua, 6962 meters high.
April 17 – May 4, 2009
Everyone knows that Greece has ancient ruins and the sea. But few people know that Greece also has wonderful mountains. And our trip was dedicated specifically to the mountains, or rather kayaking along the rivers flowing in these mountains. Yes, yes, it turned out that Greece really has everything, even kayaking.
We flew to Thessaloniki with German Wings via Cologne. The path turned out to be rather long and “hooky”, but the choice of flight was determined by the need to take kayaks with us, and German Wings provides one of better conditions for the transportation of sports equipment, transportation is booked and paid for at the stage of purchasing tickets and then everything goes without the slightest problem. Moreover, this has already been confirmed by several trips to Europe.
This time I won’t talk about choosing housing, buying tickets, obtaining visas. For all this there is the Internet, a visa is obtained at the Greek visa center in 2 days, in general, everything is easy and simple. I will try to convey some impressions of the trip and support them with photographs.
Mountains
The Greek mountains are very old and therefore feature very deep valleys: 
At the same time, they are relatively low, rarely rising above 2,000 meters, so in April they are already all green, and snow remains only on the peaks: 
But clouds still like to linger on the tops of their heads: 
Reservoirs are built on the rivers: 
And the dams supporting them: 
It’s a pity that cars were not allowed across this dam, because of this we had to make a detour of almost a hundred kilometers to get to the river for 4 days.
Spring, everything around is blooming (by the way, Albania is already behind the mountains in the background): 
And, of course, olives grow, this main product of the entire Mediterranean. Even Hippocrates counted several dozen therapeutic uses olive oil, so the residents of Greece (just like Italy and Spain) should have enviable health!
I even took a photo of the tree and was sure that it was olives. But already in Moscow they rightly corrected me that these are almonds :) Well, that’s okay, it’s also a healthy product: 
Fat herds of various tasty and healthy animals roam around: 
Hares crawl out onto the roads at night. It's very fun to chase a big-eared one along a winding highway at a speed of 40 km/h. For some reason unknown to me, he cannot jump out of the light beam of the headlights, so he runs in front of the car rather for a long time, up to several minutes. We even had a business idea for hunting, but unfortunately our chief hare specialist Petya Voskoboynikov did not support it :).
Despite the spring, if you climb higher, you can find a ski resort that has just closed: 
This is Vasilitsa, one of the main Greek ski resorts. By alpine standards, it is small, but worthy of a visit if you find yourself in those parts in winter.
One of the modern Greek “wonders of the world” is undoubtedly the Vikos River Canyon. This is one of deepest canyons in the world: 
Along the bottom of the canyon there is a picturesque and accessible walking route of 12 km, running between the villages of Monodendri and Vikos. 
Before starting the route to Monodendri, it is worth visiting the monastery on the edge of the gorge, from where you can enjoy magnificent views. If you go a little behind the monastery, there is a path along the cliff along the ledge, its width does not exceed one and a half meters, there is no fence, and if something happens you will have to fly far down. But despite this, a lot of people walk along the trail.
One of the main difficulties of this route is returning to the starting point. If you only have one car (and I went there alone), you will have to leave it in Monodendri. And the journey back from Vikos requires several tens of kilometers. Of course, there are taxi options, but I decided to save money and hitchhike back. And it turned out that there are good people in Greece too! For the first half of the journey, I was given a ride by a group of middle-aged Greeks, who climbed out of the canyon almost simultaneously with me. And a guy from Albania took me to the finish line, who didn’t know a word in the languages I knew, but nevertheless made a detour specifically to take me to the place. Thanks to him for this :)
Unfortunately, I lost my camera just when I climbed out of the canyon, and therefore all the photos below disappeared, only those that I took earlier remained: 
But this is just a reason to return there again.
The deep and narrow valleys of Greece also give rise to a rather specific road network. Here, for example, is the enchanting serpentine road that rises from the end of the Vikos canyon: 
Roads rarely run along rivers; they usually jump from one pass to another. That’s why we had to travel a lot. So, on the upper Aoos, with the length of the rafting section being about 25 kilometers, the asphalt road along the shore takes up more than 100. But there are a lot of roads and they are of good quality: 
Due to the complexity of the road network, you should not set off without proper preparation; you need to stock up on maps and pray well to the “iron brain” that will guide you along the way: 
But knowing the right road is not enough; Greek serpentines require excellent driving skills. It’s good when there are powerful trucks that can pull an unlucky driver’s car out of a ditch: 
Despite the generally good roads, sometimes we had to leave the asphalt: 
And there can be different things: 
But there are no places that the brave strength of the roaming kayakers cannot overcome: 
We are all accustomed to the fact that the roads in Europe are full order. But on the roads of Greece it is regularly found a large number of real goats! 
And turtles: 
But seriously, the impression of Greek drivers is quite strange. On the one hand, they drive quite politely, they don’t be rude, they don’t cut or push, they let you pass when overtaking. On the other hand, they don’t really follow the rules traffic. Overtaking through double lines? Please! Exceeding the speed limit on the highway is also possible. Although our Russian drivers, in terms of disregard for the law, will give the Greeks a huge head start!
Rivers
But the main thing we were looking for in Greece was rafting rivers. And we found them, we managed to swim very well: 
Basically, the rivers are not very high in water, they are full of stones and require care: 
They flow through deep gorges and some rapids are almost impossible to navigate; you have to swim anyway: 
But the difficulty is moderate everywhere, so everything was possible: 
The surrounding area is usually very picturesque, but don’t click your beak, rafting first, and beauty later :) 
If you get a little distracted, the boat can sail away separately from the rider: 
And some areas form real canyons with vertical walls. A little rest before the canyon and you can swim: 
Usually (but not always) there are no special obstacles in the canyons, and therefore here you can calmly admire the surroundings: 
But some canyons are not worth venturing into; this one, for example, ends in an impassable breakthrough, although everything looks peaceful and calm: 
Some thresholds are too tough for us: 
And they require demolition. Well, we’re no strangers to hauling boats: 
One of the gems of the whole trip was the perfect four-meter waterfall, a photo of which is at the very beginning of the story. Of course, we all jumped in with great pleasure: 
But not all waterfalls were within our reach. Some had a bit too much height: 
And in some there is not enough water: 
Separately, I would like to tell you about an amazing natural phenomenon we encountered - a siphon in a monolithic rock, where all the pretty stuff goes deep river. The lakes at the top and bottom of the siphon and the water outlet are clearly visible here: 
But what a horror happens where the water goes into the rock. I don’t even want to imagine a situation where someone would end up in this “saucepan”: 
Of course, we surrounded this place, and with a large margin (otherwise you never know). Ropes were needed to lower boats and insure people, and those who wished could jump into the lake behind the siphon directly from the cliff: 
Probably the main ones (by total number) attractions northern Greece are arch bridges. We saw them everywhere! Rafting: 
On streams on the side of the road: 
In the city of Konitsa, where we lived, one of the tourist attractions was also a bridge with a slalom track under it: 
In general, we came across bridges all the time. Like rebuilt on the site of the ancient ones: 
So they are quite ancient and overgrown: 
And one bridge was a landmark for the entrance to that same impassable canyon and signaled that it was high time to go ashore: 
Meteora
But not all we had to do was swim and wander around the mountains. We took a day off and headed to Meteora, a stunning natural site and one of Greece's Christian shrines. Already at the entrance to the city of Kastraki, a view of amazing rocks opens up: 
It is on these rocks that the Meteora monasteries are located. They are completely impregnable, which has protected them from any harm for many centuries: 
The first hermits settled here no later than the 10th century, and the first monastery appeared a century later. 
The name Meteora, which translates as “hanging in the air,” appeared in the 14th century and is believed to have been coined by the founder of the Great Meteor monastery. The monastery still exists today and is the largest: 
In the 16th century, when the community flourished, there were 24 monasteries in Meteora. Now there are only 6 of them left. 
Currently, bridges and stairs have been built to all monasteries: 
But previously it was possible to get to the top only in cradles that were lifted by monks. 
But even now it’s not possible to get into monasteries for free. You have to climb long and steep stairs: 
But not only the monasteries are worthy of attention, but also the nature around: 
Despite the fact that monasteries are the work of human hands, everything else was here before us and will remain after us: 
By the way, it was in this monastery of the Holy Trinity that the last scenes of the Bond film “For Your Eyes Only” were filmed. Unfortunately, we didn’t get into it; it was closed on Thursday, but judging by the film, it’s very beautiful inside.
Impenetrable rocks rise amazingly above a completely flat valley: 
The places are reminiscent of cowboy films (but where do the forests on the rocks come from in cowboy films? :) 
It's just a Martian landscape: 
Such rocks attract not only pilgrims and photographers, but also athletes. Look carefully at the ridge in the upper left part of the mountain, the red dot is a rather brisk climber, and right below him above the cable is a second one: 
We spent only 1 day in Meteora, and this is probably enough to explore all the monasteries and climb accessible to ordinary people rocks. But this is a place where you want to return, it’s so beautiful! 
Cities
Our first stop was the mountain-surrounded village of Volakas in Eastern Macedonia: 
The apartments both inside and outside were pleasing to the eye: 
The village is very small but neat, with a central square and the obligatory church: 
Not far from Volakas there is a river cave, where we arranged an excursion. Unfortunately, it was flooded with water and we were only allowed into its initial part. But there was something to admire there too: 
Natural “air” entrance to the cave, a river flows through the hole nearby: 
After living for 4 days in Volakas, we moved to the western part of Greece, to Epiros, to the town of Konitsa. Our apartments: 
The city is located on the edge of the valley and is very picturesque: 
Feels like spring: 
The houses are covered with ivy: 
The streets rise steeply uphill (the total difference is more than 200 meters): 
Beyond the edge of the city the mountains begin: 
The city has an interesting landmark – a ruined mosque. After liberation from the Turks in the 19th century, most mosques in Greece were destroyed like this one. And now the ruins remind us that nothing lasts forever under the moon, not even the earthly embodiment of the heavenly: 
Not far from Konitsa is the city of Ioannina, the center of the Epiros district. It is located on the shore of a lake and, unlike other Greek cities, boasts entire mosques: 
This tolerance can be explained by the fact that Ioannina was ruled for a long time by Ali Pasha Tepelensky, whose fate is probably well known to many thanks to Alexandre Dumas. Remember Gaide, daughter of the Pasha of Ioannina. Despite the fact that he was a cruel ruler, Ali Pasha was distinguished by fairly progressive views and religious tolerance. Thanks to this, his lands prospered, and the good memory of him was preserved even after death.
In Ioannina, the fortress walls of the “kastro” have been preserved: 
You can get inside through the ancient gates: 
Inside the walls there is an old city with narrow streets: 
Conclusion
We spent more than 2 weeks in Greece. We admired the magnificent nature, beautiful monasteries, cozy cities and villages. But the main thing is that we communicated with wonderful people. Greece has charmed, probably, each of us, and I personally will return here more than once. 
Greece is known to us as one of the cradles of civilization, as the patrimony of many great people, as the source of countless myths and traditions, and, ultimately, as the homeland of a wonderful, cheerful people. And, of course, we can say that it owes its glorious history to the land that sheltered it. This land is very diverse, almost the entire territory of Greece is covered with mountain ranges, interspersed with rare river valleys, the climate changes sharply with changes in altitude, because it is always warm on the sea coast, and on very close mountain peaks there are snow caps all year round. So, let's talk about the most famous Greek mountain, familiar to the whole world.
The highest mountain in Greece, without any doubt, can be called the legendary mountain, or rather one of its peaks - Mytikas, reaching 2919 meters above the sea. Olympus is located on the border between Greece and Macedonia. It consists of more than five dozen peaks with heights ranging from 760 meters to the highest point of 2919 meters. These peaks are cut through by countless ravines, creating beautiful and rather eerie landscapes. The highest mountain in Greece was conquered only in 1913.
Olympus on the map:
The ancient Greeks believed that Olympus was the home of the twelve main gods. Under the leadership of their leader, Zeus, they defeated the Titans, after which the world came to order. The top is always covered with snow, and in clear weather it sparkles under the light of the sun. The length of the ridge is at least 20 kilometers.
Ordinary tourists only climb to the foot, but people with special training will be able to reach highest peak in 6 hours. The base for climbing the mountain and when visiting the reserve is the village of Litokhoron, which is located near the foot.
The territory adjacent to the mountain has been a national reserve for about 75 years. It is known for its rich animals and flora. There are even relict animals. Here you can find deer, badgers, wild boars, forest wild cat. Almost 1,700 plants grow on Olympus itself various types. The reserve is rich in birch and oak forests, Macedonian spruce trees. For many centuries, not far from the Dionysius Monastery you can see a unique yew grove.
The name of the mountain has long been a common noun and means something very significant. Thus, even the highest mountain of Mars is called Olympus.
What mountains are in Greece? This question worries many who want to give themselves a vacation where there is room not only for the sea, historical sights, but also for charming mountain landscapes.
Yes, Greece is very varied in relief. There are also pronounced plains here (and often holidays in Greece are “tied” to them), but there are also beautiful mountains in Greece. In some places they only resemble hills, but in others they show quite a serious “nature”, impressing with their charm - soft, elegant, mysterious. Mountains in Greece, on average, rise to 1000-1800 meters (although there are several mountains over 2,500 meters, and they will be discussed below, but they are rather an exception to the general rule).
So, what are the mountains in Greece? Among the mountain ranges and ranges of Greece, the following stand out:
The Pindos Mountains (Pindus), located in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. This is the largest mountain system in Greece. It consists of several ridges, between which there are beautiful valleys;
The Rhodope Mountains (Rhodope Mountains, Red Mountains) are the mountains that Greece shares with Bulgaria. average altitude above sea level - 785 m;
Mount Olympus (with Mount Olympus, Mitikam and Stephanie);
The Timfi mountain range is famous for its amazing beauty mountain lakes and unusual vertical caves (the Provatina cave has a depth of 408 meters, Epos 451 meters).
But what are the highest mountains in Greece? And what mountain ranges and chains do they belong to?
The most high mountains in Greece are:
Mytikas, also known as the legendary Mount Olympus (2917 m), well known to everyone from ancient Greek mythology - a mountain of Greece, belonging to the Tharsis mountain range, Mount Olympus itself is located on the territory of a national reserve, but already at a distance of 10 km from it there are a number of popular hotels . If you want to climb Mount Olympus on foot, or maybe take a bike ride in its surroundings, or maybe even ride a alpine skiing, it makes sense to stay in Elatochori, where the Semeli Resort Hotel, Alseides Boutique Hotel, Atrion Highland Hotel are located. And, if you want, but want Mount Olympus to also be close enough to you, then stay in Paralia Katerini (about 20 km from Mount Olympus), where the famous Greek resort hotels Mediterranean Village, Olympus, Hotel Strass and others are located;
Scolio (2912), also part of the Olympus mountain range;
Stephanie (2905 m) is another mountain included in the Olympus ridge;
Zmolikas (Smolikas) is a mountain in Greece (2637 meters), located at the junction national reserves(Pindus and Vikos-Aoos) 45 km from Kastoria National Airport "Aristoteles", Zmolikas belongs to the Pindus mountain system (Pindos);
Gamila (a mountain in Greece in the west of the country in Ioannina, 2497 m above sea level). On the slope of Mount Tymfi in Greece there is one of the most beautiful alpine-type lakes, Drakolimni.
Interesting things about the mountains of Greece
What was the name of the mountain of the gods of Greece?
The mountain of the ancient Greek gods of Greece - Olympus.
The sacred mountains of Greece are Parnassus, Olympus and Athos.
What is the name of the Mountain of Muses in Greece?
Mount of Muses in Greece - Helikon. According to ancient Greek mythology, it was on Mount Helikon that there were springs sacred to the muses.