The bare summit of Olympus opens a window into the geological history of Lesvos and reveals one of the most impressive images of Lesvos, a tectonic window.
But how was this impressive geosite of Lesvos created?
Intense forces in the earth’s interior 120-160 million years ago moved the rocks from the Tethys ocean floor, the ophiolites, and placed them on top of the oceanic sediments that accompanied the oceanic plate (metamorphic rocks).
The forces were so strong that all together they were moved and placed on top of the rocks of the continental area (recrystallized limestones) that existed in that geological period, where today it is the area of Olympus.
On Mount Olympus, through the ophiolites and metamorphic rocks, the lower geological layers appear to surface today, i.e. the white to ash, sugary and sometimes pinkish recrystallized limestones that make up the impressive summit of Mount Olympus.
Around the dominant peak of Olympus, an extremely rich vegetation grows consisting of chestnuts, pines, apples, walnuts and olive groves. The mountain massif of Olympus is included in the Natura 2000 Network, while the area is characterized as a botanical garden of the Aegean, due to the wide variety of endemic plants.