Olympos (Olympus) — Mythic Realm

Located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia and standing with its highest peak Mytikas at almost 10,000 feet (2,918 m), Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and one of its most picturesque sites.

Olympos was the home of the gods who dwelt in fabulous palaces of marble and gold. Olympos is clearly described in Homer's Iliad. It was essentially an ancient akropolis--a fortified hill-top and palace complex--located just below the peaks of Mount Olympos.

Home of the Olympians
Due to its majesty, remoteness, and beauty, it was only natural for the Ancient Greeks to believe that it is also the home of their most important gods since very early times. It was from Olympus that the twelve principal gods – fittingly referred to as the Olympians – presided over the world.

Who are the Olympians?
These were five of the children of Cronus and Rhea (Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia; Hades resided in the Underworld), two of the children of Zeus and Hera (Ares and Hephaestus), four deities who Zeus fathered out of wedlock (Hermes, Hephaestus, Artemis, Apollo) and Aphrodite, the goddess of love born when Uranus’s severed genitals fell into the sea. At a later date, some say that Hestia surrendered her place to Dionysus.

Gods' Time in Mount Olympus
At Olympus, the gods feasted on ambrosia and drank nectar, and reveled to the tunes of Apollo’s lyre; of course, from time to time, they also quarreled between themselves, mostly over the fortunes of mortal beings.

In time, Mount Olympus stopped referring to the actual mountain and became a much more mythical concept, often signifying the unreachable idyllic heaven located above the peaks themselves.