OLYMBOS VILLAGE

Northern Karpathos includes the islet of Saria and is made up of the Communities of Olymbos, Meshochori and Spoa.

Info: Olymbos

Olympus (or Elimpos) is the northernmost village of the island and it has the highest altitude. It is situated on the slopes of Profitis Ilias (718m) and is the island's beauty spot. It is one of the most striking villages in Greece, cut off the rest of the world until a road connecting the south and the north part of the island was finished in 1979. The settlement spreads out along both sides of the mountain line where the series of the picturesque windmills are located.
Olymbos still seems caught in a time wrap where women wear their traditional costumes (fine handmade goatskin boots, intricately embroided jackets, scarves and pinafores, heavy collars of gold coins) and they bake bread in outdoor communal ovens from flour ground in the village's medieval windmills.

Transport within the village is done by donkeys and even if people are now getting used to visitors, life still goes on, women carrying goats from the port up the hill, people carrying faggots on their hands. Even the local dialect preserves impressive remnants of ancient and medieval Greek and the traditional housing of Olymbos are single levelled one roomed houses with only one additional room serving as a kitchen.
The village's central church dedicated to the Dormition of Our Lady ('Koimisi tis Theotokou") is worth a visit. It is built according to Byzantine architecture with interesting frescoes of the Ottoman rule period covering the entire interior and a wooden iconosatsis carved masterfully. In addition, the whole settlement and surrounds are

dotted with numerous colourful chapels.

The biggest festivals on Northern Karpathos are held during August and September. They are the 'Dekapendavgousto" (Dormition of our Lady) on the 15th of August and the feast of St. John the Forerunner (August 29th) which are held in Olymbos.

Traditional costume of Olymbos women

In Olymbos there a few rooms, a couple of pensions to stay, and plenty places to eat. Try makarounes a local dish of home made pasta with onions and cheese.

Click here to look at the most important sites of Olymbos village.