Attavyros () or Atavyros (Ατάβυρος) or Atabyron () is the highest mountain on the island of

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

in the

Dodecanese The Dodecanese (, ; , ''Dodekánisa'' , ) are a group of 15 larger and 150 smaller Greek islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Anatolia, of which 26 are inhabited. This island group generally define ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It rises to a height of 1,215 m. It lies to the south of the village of Embonas.

Flora and Fauna

The lower slopes of the mountain are largely forested with '' Pinus brutia'' and ''

Cupressus sempervirens ''Cupressus sempervirens'', the Mediterranean cypress (also known as Italian cypress, Tuscan cypress, Persian cypress, or pencil pine), is a species of cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Iran. While some studies show it ha ...

'', as well as maquis shrubland. They are also home to the

peony The peony or paeony () is any flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'', the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae. Peonies are native to Asia, Europe, and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguish ...

species ''Paeonia clusii'' subsp. ''rhodia'', as well as

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

. Mammals include the deer '' Dama dama'' and the Rhodes badger ''Meles canescens'' subsp. ''rhodius''.

Ant Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...

species include '' Aphaenogaster balcanica, festae,'' and ''sporadis''; '' Camponotus aegeus, aethiops, boghossiani, gestroi, kiesenwetteri, oertzenii, lateralis'' and ''samius''; '' Colobopsis truncata''; ''

Crematogaster ''Crematogaster'' is an ecologically diverse genus of ants found worldwide, which are characterised by a distinctive heart-shaped gaster (insect anatomy), gaster (abdomen), which gives them one of their common names, the Saint Valentine ant. Mem ...

ionia''; '' Lepisiota melas''; '' Messor wasmanni''; '' Pheidole pallidula''; '' Plagiolepis pallescens''; '' Temnothorax antigoni'' and ''dessyi''

Conservation

The mountain is part of a Natura 2000 special area of conservation since 2008, together with the neighbouring Mount Akramitis. The area is considered important for breeding raptors and species of open arid areas, as well as for seabirds.

Mythology

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

Althaemenes founded an altar to

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

Atabyrios (Ἀταβύριος Ζεύς) on the mountain. He was said to have chosen the site as the only point on Rhodes from which his homeland of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

could be seen. The remains of the sanctuary can be seen near the summit.

Gallery

File:Rhodes island aerial.jpg, Aerial view of Attavyros File:Attavyros.JPG, Attavyros File:ZeusTempelAtt.jpg, Temple of Zeus at the top of Attavyros

References

{{Reflist Mountains of Greece Rhodes Mountains of the South Aegean Landforms of Rhodes (regional unit) Sacred mountains of Greece Temples of Zeus One-thousanders of Greece