Olympos is a traditional  village in Karpathos island, located at its northern part.

 

Olympos is a unique place in Greece, maybe the most traditional village where time seem to have stood still during the last decades.

Built on the hills of mt. Profitis Ilias, at an altitude of 250m, Olympos is a mountainous place, overlooking the aegean sea.  The village is also known with the name «Elymbos». 

The western side of the village of Olympos is rocky and stands hight above the sea, with a magnificent view to Kassos island, Astakida island and Crete.

 

The long isolation of the village from the rest of the island and other villages, due to the condition roads that connect Olympos to the rest of Karpathos and the capital of the island, has contributed to keeping this special cultural identity of this place up to our days. 

 

Olympos is one of the very few places of Greece where one can see its inhabitants wearing their traditional costumes of their village in everyday life.

The ancient local dialect, the local music and traditions as well as the traditional architecture of Olympos Karpathos are only some of the special characterictics that contribute to the uniqueness of this village.

One of the special features of Olympos village is the windmills, which were fully operating in the past. The windmills of Olympos belonged to different families of the village and produced flour for the preparation of bread and pasta and other local traditional plates. The windmills of Olympos village still exist, they are around 75, and their condition varies, from fully operational to dilapidated buidlings.

Northern Karpathos area and Saria island which is located on the northern part of Karpathos, are considered one of the most important 

Northern Karpathos and Saria island are considered as two of the most important habitats of rare animals or plants in Greece. They are included in Natura 2000 network (a Europe-wide network of the most ecologically important places in Europe).