Partly hidden by the mountains…

Once upon a time there used to be a very small village, all the way up in the North of Karpathos – one of the Greek Dhodhekanisos islands. The village was named Vroukounta and is also known as Vrykous. Its location wasn’t the most safe one after all the sea rovers kept on intruding the village. The inhabitants started looking for a more mountainous area to hide from the Saracen pirates and that’s when Olympos was born.

The rough west-coast of Karpathos, seen from a walking-path in Olympos

A lady from Olympos near one of the public ovens

Diafani and Avlona

With the nearby harbor town of Diafani as the gateway to the sea, Olympos was located perfectly. The people only had to cross the dry river between Diafani and Olympos to get from point A to B. Avlona is the rural area above Olympos, which made the area look like a triangle of villages on the map that actually all belong together. The people lived in Olympos, worked on the land in Avlona and caught their fish in Diafani.

The area surrounding Olympos, Diafani and Avlona is filled with wild herbs such as Thyme, Salvia and Mentha. Even wild Asparagus can be found around! The amount of Thyme growing here made the beekeepers on the island realize that this area was perfect to create Thyme honey and that’s why you can still spot many blue bee boxes in the surroundings.

Diafani nowadays is still the port of Olympos and you can find plenty of interesting things in this little town like a statue of a local woman overlooking the sea, waiting for her husband to return with some freshly caught fish. There is also a Neptune fountain with a dolphin on top standing in this little harbor, created by the famous folk artist Vasilis Hatzivasilis and his sons.

The harbor town Diafani

Iron bells for the cattle made by the local blacksmith

Back into time

Once you set foot into Olympos you will get lost in the historic Greek times where the women still used to wear the Mandili – a scarf worn around the head. The Mandili is not tied with a knot when the women put it around their head, but they simply place the loose end somewhere in the scarf and as soon as it’s about to fall off their head they fix it again. Basically every other five minutes. The people from Olympos where always quite isolated from the rest of Karpathos, which is why they kept the local traditions.

One big open air museum

The houses in Olympos preserve the traditional colors and inside you can still find the layout of a typical Karpatheon house. Most houses have a dark yellow color on the outside, but you can also find some with blue and white colored houses. Back in the day when the Greek people were not allowed to raise their Greek flag, due to the Turks, they decided to paint their houses blue and white to show how proud they will always be and to disagree with the neighboring country.

The entire village of Olympos is one big open air museum. You can still find the traditional shoemaker, an olive press, the blacksmith, the old water source where the ladies used to gossip at, a couple of windmills, traditional houses and not to forget the church.

The old water source

Panagia of Olympos

The most important church of Olympos, found in the main square, is the 16th century church of Panagia – meaning Holy or Virgin Mary. The church has two layers on its wall when you look inside. The walls used to be covered with symbols, but a new layer of icons was placed on top of it. Nowadays, since the church had some water damage, you can clearly see both layers. The iconostasis (a wall of icons and religious paintings) is amazingly detailed, with especially lots of gold artwork. Right next to the iconostasis you can find plenty of small metal plaques, known as Tamatas, which symbolize the subject of prayer in an embossed image. When you find tamatas with a heart it might symbolize a prayer for someone with heart problems or a prayer for love. If you see a pair of wedding crowns if might be for a happy marriage and if you happen to see a ‘tama’ with eyes it might mean a prayer for better eyes.

Panagia church in Olympos

The wall of the Panagia church with its two layers

The double-headed ‘Phoenix’

Another thing you will see a lot in Olympos is the double-headed eagle. It can be found on the walls, on balconies, in the church, on the rooftop. Basically anywhere. It looks like a symbol with two eagles, but it is not. They are actually the Phoenix bird of ancient Egypt. Or at least, they used to be. When I started digging into some history of the symbol I found lots of question marks, but the people of Karpathos have plenty of stories themselves. The left head of the double-headed eagle should be looking towards the Byzantine kingdom, Constantinopolis, the current Istanbul and the right head looking at the Catholic Vatican in Rome. The heads look at different directions for the many differences in these religions, though both places should have the same basis for their religion, which is why the eagles have the same body.

Do you know more about this double-headed eagle from the Greek Orthodox church? Please drop a comment below this article to help me clarify the meaning of this symbol.

Olympos is a place that pulled my attention and I am looking forward to discovering more about it. Read more here about my first impression of Karpathos and Olympos.

About Renate Rigters

Ever since I left my home country I felt at home at any other place I went to. I enjoy getting to know more cultures by talking to strangers and hearing their philosophy about life. Speaking with gestures when you can not find a shared language, finding places only the locals go to and learn about their customs and values. Hanging out with local people makes me happy. The experience of every new place is a step out of your comfort zone where I like to wander around until it feels like a second home.

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