Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Gulf of Thérmai of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, between the regional units of Pieria and Larissa, about 80 km southwest from Thessaloniki.
Mount Olympus is snowcapped and often has cloud cover. According to Homer’s Odyssey, however, the peak never has storms and it basks in cloudless aithēr (Greek: “pure upper air”; thus “ether”). Later writers elaborated upon this description, which may have originated from the observation that the peak is often visible above a belt of relatively low clouds. In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus was regarded as the abode of the gods and the site of the throne of Zeus. The name Olympus was used for several other mountains as well as hills, villages, and mythical personages in Greece and Asia Minor.
