Cancel the plans for economic exploitation of mount Olympus-Greece

According to an interview given by the Greek Vice- Minister, Dimitrios Mardas, the construction of a heliport and a village constituted of 3-4 refuges in the Mouson Plateau (2,300m) in the Mount Olympus is being planned. Moreover, the construction of a ski lift is planned , by the area of Elassona, and one more small village, by the area of Litochoro, in the foothills of the mountain.

All these, according to Mr. Mardas, will be included in a project of a Presidential Decree “Characterization of the land area of the Mount Olympus as a National Park, determination of protection zones, uses, terms and limitations”, which as it is ,downsizes the size of the protected area and allows numerous uses and interventions,in favor of potential investors. In contrast,the access in certains zones is extremely regulated for hikers,treating them as a nuisance to the environement .

Given that if these plans are implemented, an irreversible environmental and cultural crime will be committed, we submit you the following plea, so as, even at the last minute, to secure that the mountain will be treated with respect. It is a mountain that is a world attraction, due to its history and the mythology that covers it, its biodiversity and its beauty.

Letter – plea

To the state and local authorities, the aim of the State should not be the development of mountain tourism, which will be appreciated as successful or not depending on the profit that the national and local economy will gain, and it will face the visitors of the National Park as if they were consumers, offering them meaningless luxuries and entertainment incompatible to it. On the contrary, it should be the development of a mild form of activities, which will be in harmony with the environment, will respect it by appointing the gifts that nature so generously has to offer.

No imitation of the foreign models of the “exploited” mountains and national parks, which are abandoned due to reduced snowfalls, leaving behind them a desert of concrete, pillars and rusty ski lifts.
Mount Olympus is one of the rare and worldwide famous destinations, because it stands out for its virgin and unexploited nature and its symbolic character.
It is the mountain where the gods of our ancestors chose to live. It does not need the degrading “exploitation”, which wherever it was attempted it was a total failure.

It will no longer be possible for anyone to feel the myth of Olympus, when the magnificent simplicity of its peaks will no longer exist. The luxurious SPA and all the relevant facilities, that the enthusiasts of development are dreaming of, are nothing but a contemporary HYBRIS, as their sole intention is to build upon the ancient ground of the mountain, so as to multiply their profits.

The people who climb up (and will continue to do so) Mount Olympus come from all over the world, aiming at coming in contact with their inner selves and the finding the meaning of their existence, testing their limits, feeling the presence of hundreds of centuries of myths and history, feeling the silence of the steep peaks, identifying themselves not only with the rock, the snow and the wind, but also with the divine. They do not care in finding what they can find in any other mountain of their country or our country.

Any action taken or any thought about an intervention in the Mount Olympus, should be no different from any intervention made in the sacred rock of Acropolis and in the Parthenon.
Please, do not sacrifice 4.000 years of mythology and history on the cult of the selfish and temporary pleasure of some people or in the name of the financial interest of some other, or your supposed satisfaction and glory.

Please, understand the meaning of Mount Olympus for the Humanity.
Foreigners acknowledge it for centuries now. Those who pronounced Mount Olympus a National Park since 1938 also knew it, but also those who characterized it as “a Deposit in Biosphere” and “a historical and archaeological place”, so as to rescue its wild beauty and its unique biodiversity from the greed of the occasional financial interests.
Mount Olympus symbolizes the Ancient Greek Spirit
It is our duty to preserve it unpolluted and intact, so as to bequeath it to next generations as beautiful as it was when our ancestors bequeathed it to us.