Cave Hermitage of Pythio

At the western plateaus of Olympus, close to Pithio village, two small chapels are preserved inside caves which were ascetic dwellings of anchorite monks. Murals dating back to the 14th century are still evident on the walls.

Agios Dimitrios

As we follow the national motorway from Katerini to Elassona, after the village of Milia, we pass along an impressive densely-wooded gorge that divides Mount Olympus from the smaller Mount Titaros. These are the famous “Petra narrows”, one of the three big passes of Olympus from ancient times to the present. The gorge waters are used to irrigate fruit trees and “pezoules” (terraced cultivations) where the renowned Agios Dimitrios beans are cultivated; the area used to have watermills and “Mantania” (Fulling Mills). 33 km from Katerini lies the village of Agios Dimitrios which was formed from smaller villages in the 15th century. Many of the villagers were executed during the German Occupation due to their participation in the national resistance and the village was burned down three times by the Occupation forces. The Village of Agios Dimitrios still preserves old stone-built houses with wooden balconies, while the shops and taverns offer local products.

Pinios Delta river

The wetlands at the estuary of Pinios River, are located in the eastern part of Thessaly and 1km north-west from Stomio village. It covers a total area of 2600 hectares and belongs exclusively to the State. Its flora includes over 600 types of plants. In some sections of the wetland’s perimeter, there are crops and thickets of evergreen broad-leaved plants.
The estuary of Pinios has riverine and coastal forests, scrublands and dunes. Breeding species include the little bittern, the night heron, the black stork, the white stork, the honey buzzard, the Egyptian vulture, the griffon vulture, the short-toed eagle, the lesser spotted eagle, the golden eagle, the booted eagle, the lanner, the peregrine, the rock partridge, the stone curlew, the eagle owl, the kingfisher and the semi-collared flycatcher. Other species inhabiting the area are the lammergeier, the black vulture, the osprey and Eleonora’s falcon.
Aside of water supply provisions to arable farmland and rich variations in landscape, the estuary is also a natural reserve of rare bird species, included in the European Natura 2000 Network.

Dion

National Park of Olympus

Beyond its mythological significance, Mt. Olympus is renowned for its fauna and flora biodiversity, since it is considered to be one of the top-ranking and rarest ecosystems on earth, which are under the protection of the international community. The Mt. Olympus National Park has a diversity of more than 1.800 species of plants, 23 of which – mainly flowers – cannot be found anywhere else in the world. There is also a wide range of fauna, however many of the mammals and birds of prey are presently categorized as endangered species. The global value of the natural heritage of Olympus has been acknowledged by UNESCO, which in 1981 incorporated it in the Biosphere World Reserves ecosystems, which belong to the world heritage. The European Union has also included Olympus in the “Most Important for its Bird-fauna Areas of the European Community”. The National Park of Olympus was the first to be established in Greece (1937) and is among the oldest national parks of the world. Its foundation aimed at the protection of the natural environment, the fauna and the flora of the Park from human interference. The core of the National Park covers an area of occupies an area of 44.500 1,000m2, on the eastern side of the mountain, enclosing Enipeas river and the gully of Mavrologgos, beginning at an altitude of 600m, reaching up to the Skolio – Mytikas – Stefani ridge.
The flora
Olympus has a great variety of flowers, bushes and trees dividing the mountain in three main zones that do not retain their uniformity since some trees and plants in other zones, thus, there is no clear classification of species according to altitude. In the lower one, at a height between 300- 700 m there are Mediterranean bushes [holm-oaks (quercus coccifera), arbutus (arbutus unedo), heathers (erica arborea), hazel-trees (corylus avellana), laurels (laurus nobilis), cedar-trees (juniperus oxycedrus), (paliurus spina)] deciduous and coniferous trees [hornbeans (caprinus betulus), ash trees (fraximus ornus), (cersis siliquastrum), cornel-trees (cornus mas), maple-trees (acer monspesulanum)]. Plane-trees (platanus orientalis) grow by the impenetrable gullies, poplar-trees (populus tremula), willow trees (salix caprea), linden trees (tilia tomentosa) and elm-trees (ulmus glabra), together with dense riverside vegetation. The second alpine zone, from 700 up to 2.400 m, is mainly covered by oaks(quercus frainetto ), beeches(fagus sylvatica), pine-trees(pinus negra), fir-trees(taxus baccata). There are big forests of olympic pine-trees (pinus heldreichii) and macedonian fir-trees (abies borisii-regis). In the last alpine zone, above 2400m, there are no forests except for some pine-trees, low bushes and several impressive and rare flowers, which only grow on Olympus, such as Cerastium Theofrasti (2500-2900m) and Festuca Olympica, which reaches up the peak of Mytikas. The southwestern side of the mountain, apart from some gullies, is bare, due to overgrazing, woodcutting and soil erosion.
The flowers of Olympus
The flowers of Olympus are world-renowned, the mountain being a favorite place of study for botanists from around the globe. The flowers of Olympus are identified by the international names, which are registered in the European Flora list (Flora Europaea). A registered sign of the mountain is a purple flower, Jankaea Heldreichii, which grows among the rocks and can only be found on Olympus. It was named after the pioneer German botanist Th. von Heldreich, who discovered several plants during his excursions on Olympus, in mid 19th century. Many of the mountain’s endemic flowers were “baptized” by researching botanists who chose places and mythological characters of Olympus, in order to emphasize their unique origin. As a result, wondering around on Olympus, especially early in the summer, one can meet Potentilla of the Gods (Potentilla Deorum), Dionysus` Silini (Silene Dionysii), Erussimo the Olympic (Erysimum Olympicum), Ligoustiko the Olympic (Ligusticum Olympicum), Veroniki the Thessalic (Veronica Thessalica), Centavria of Litochoron (Centaurea Litochorea), Poa the Thessalic (Poa Thessala) and others.
Birds and animals
Olympus’ fauna is rich, although the bears and deer, which existed in the past, have been gone and the few renowned royal eagles are endangered with extinction, birds which have been glorified by folklore music. Almost all the mammals of the Greek forests can be found on Olympus, such as wolves (canis lupus), boars (capreolus capreolus), jackals (canis aureus), wild goats (rupicarta rupicarta), foxes (vulpes vulpes), wild boars (sus scrofa), badgers (meles meles), ferrets (martes foina), weasels (mustela nivalis), hares (lepus europaeus), squirrels (sciurus vulgaris) and others. Several species of birds can be found on the slopes, the gullies and the clearings of Olympus. Birds of prey [golden eagles (aquila chrisaetos), royal eagles (hieraaetus pennatus), harrier eagles (gypaetus barbatus), vultures (gyps fulvus), peregrines (falco peregrinus), falcons (falconidae), falco biarmicus, buteo buteo, partridges, thrushes, cuckoos, horn-owls, bee-eaters, blackbirds (turdus merula), nightingales (luscinia megarynchos), orioles, woodpeckers (picidae), ravens (corvus corax) and others. All species of Mediterranean reptiles live on Olympus (snakes, lizards, tortoises), a great variety of insects and the famous butterflies of Olympus which are worth watching at early summer, close to the gullies. Fortunately, conservation measures have recently deterred the multinational collectors from catching the Olympic butterfly.

Elassona

Elassona retained its Homeric name, Olosson, almost intact. Homer refers to it as “White Olosson”, the town that took part in the Trojan expedition with 40 ships, headed by Polypoetes. It was initially inhabited by the Lapiths, but owes its great significance to the Perrhaebi. It was the largest town and capital of Perrhaebia. The Byzantine city was built upon the ruins of the ancient city and continued its historical course.
The insufficient flat land and the weak irrigation at the region of Elassona forced a large part of the population to turn to stock breeding. The festival of feta cheese, a key ingredient of the local food chain, takes place at the end of September in Elassona with a variety of related activities and demonstrations of traditional cheese-making. During the three-day event a scientific congress is organized and sampling stands can be found at the central square.