Olympus Mountains | Lesvos | A Natura 2000 Botanical Paradise of 1400 Species
- Shiny Greece
- Oct 10, 2021
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 29
Author
George - The Shiny Greece Team (feat. ai)
Olympos is a 967 m. mountain in south Lesvos island, extending from the plains of Polichnitos and Gera to Plomari village. It is located above the traditional settlement of Agiasos and it is considered a botanical paradise, including more than 1400 species of flora. This large number of species, many of which are rare and show high ecological interest, is due to the short distance of the area from Asia Minor.
Mount Olympus Lesvos | Photo by: anonymous, Olympos Lesvos, CC BY-SA 3.0
Natural Wealth
The mountain owes this natural wealth also to the variety of the island’s habitats, the peculiarity of the rocks, the weather of Lesvos, the morphology of the Lesvos landscape, and the geological disconnection of the island from Eastern Aegean. The Olympos mountain range has been included in the official list of CORINE-Land Cover habitats. It is part of the region “Gulf of Gera – Marsh Dippi and Mount Olympus”, included in the national catalogue of the European Network of Protected Areas “NATURA 2000” with the code number GR4110005. It has also been characterized as an “Important Bird Area".
Olympos Mountain Lesvos | Photo by: Panagiotis - The Shiny Greece Team
Flora
Olympus area is covered by chestnut cultivated forest, trachea pine forests and black pine forests. The black pine is a priority habitat, endemic to Lesvos and rare all over Europe. There are also twelve species of (rare in Europe) orchids that are protected by the CITES treaty and are almost non-existent in Greece, such as Grisebachii, Sideritis Sipylea Tea, Centaurs Cemtaurea Urvillei and Viola Viola Heldreichiana (the name was first given by Lesvos Theophrastus, one of the first Greek botanists of the Aristotelian community).
Fauna
Regarding fauna, important in Olympus mountains are: the small Persian squirrel that is known in Lesvos as "galia", which lives only in Greece, the "Turkotsobanakos" bird that lives and breeds throughout Europe only in Lesvos, the reptile vipera xanthine and the agama stellio dragon found in the Red Book of Threats (RED BOOK).
Agiassos and Olympus | Photo by: Rosa-Maria Rinkl, Blick auf Agiassos, CC BY-SA 4.0
Olympus Mountains Routes
Mount Olympus has also beautiful routes, with the main starting point at Agiasos village, enjoyed by hundreds of visitors each year.
Lovely environment and view!
How many Olympuses does Greece have??
Beautiful view, you can see almost the whole island. You can reach the top by car, although the route is a bit difficult.