Mount_Olympus_(Cyprus)
Mount Olympus (Cyprus)
Highest mountain in Cyprus
Olympus, or Chionistra, (Greek: Όλυμπος or Χιονίστρα; Turkish: Olimpos Tepesi) at 1,952 metres (6,404 ft), is the highest point in Cyprus.[3] It is located in the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus.[4] Mount Olympus peak and the "Troodos Square" fall under the territory of Platres in Limassol District. A British long range radar currently operates at Mount Olympus' peak. It has a highland warm-summer mediterranean climate.
Mount Olympus is formed of ultramafic rock, dominantly serpentinized harzburgite which is part of the Troodos ophiolite.[5]
The Mount Olympus Ski resort consists of the Sun Valley and North Face areas. Each area has its own ski lifts and runs, operated by the Cyprus Ski Club:
- Aphrodite or Sun Valley I, with a 125m T-bar ski lift and beginner-level slopes
- Hermes or Sun Valley II, with a 140m T-bar ski lift and intermediate-level slopes
- Dias/Zeus or North Face I, with a 380m chairlift and advanced-level slopes
- Hera or North Face II, with a 262m T-bar ski lift and beginner-level slopes
In the Sun Valley area there is a 55m rope tow baby lift as well.
Writing in the late first century BC or first century AD, the geographer Strabo reported that on one of its promontories was a temple to Aphrodite Acraea (Ancient Greek: Ἀφροδίτης Ἀκραίας) which means Aphrodite of the Heights, which women were forbidden to enter.[6]
