Mount Olympus (Cyprus)

Mount Olympus
Chionistra
Mount Olympus in Winter
Highest point
Elevation1,952 m (6,404 ft)
Prominence1,952 m (6,404 ft)
ListingCountry high point
Ultra, Ribu
Coordinates34°56′11″N 32°51′48″E / 34.93639°N 32.86333°E / 34.93639; 32.86333
Geography
Mount Olympus
Location of Mount Olympus in Cyprus
LocationCyprus
Parent rangeTroodos

Olympus, or Chionistra, (Greek: Όλυμπος or Χιονίστρα; Turkish: Olimpos Tepesi) at 1,952 metres (6,404 ft), is the highest point in Cyprus. It is located in the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus. 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.

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.