Olympos ( el, Όλυμπος) is a village and a former self-governing

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

on the island of

Karpathos Karpathos ( el, Κάρπαθος, ), also Carpathos, is the second largest of the Greek Dodecanese islands, in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Together with the neighboring smaller Saria Island it forms the municipality of Karpathos, which is part o ...

, in the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; el, Δωδεκάνησα, ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Turkey's Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality

, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located in the northern part of the island. Population 556 (2011). The total land area of the community is 104.876 km².

History

In antiquity in this place there was the

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

city Vrykous or Vrycous. Vrykous was one of the three ancient cities of

. It was located near the village Avlona. Today a small part of the city and the walls are preserved as well as some ruins from graves and three old Christian churches. The city of Vrykous was kept until the 7th or 8th century. Then the residents sought refuge in more mountainous areas on account of

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

pirates. The refugees from Vrykous founded Olympos possibly in those years. Olympos was named after the mountain where it is built. The name of the village is feminine (Η Όλυμπος/I Olympos) contrary to the name of the mountain that is masculine (Ό Όλυμπος/O Olympos). The name Elympos (Έλυμπος) is used, mainly by local villagers. The villagers of Olympos kept the local dialect and the traditional costume due to the isolation of this place from the rest of Karpathos. The traditional style of the village attracts many tourists nowadays.

Historical population

Notable people

Yannis Philippakis Yannis Philippakis (Greek: Ιωάννης "Γιάννης" Φιλιππάκης) (born 23 April 1986) is the lead singer and guitarist of the British indie rock band Foals. Early life Born to a Greek father and a South African Jewish mother, ...

, frontman of the British indie band

Foals A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal is ...

Photo gallery

File:Olymposvillage.jpeg, Closer view of the village File:Olymbos, Karpathos.JPG, Houses File:Olympos Balcony.jpeg, Balcony with view to the ocean File:Kirche in Olymbos.JPG, Local church File:ΓΙΟΡΤΗ ΤΗΣ ΠΑΝΑΓΙΑΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΟΛΥΜΠΟ (3).jpg, Local women dressed for a festival of

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

File:Diafani, Karpathos, GRE.jpg, Diafani village, seaport of Olympos traditional village

References

External links

Map showing community of Olympus on Karpathos Island and Saria Island
Populated places in Karpathos (regional unit) {{SouthAegean-geo-stub