The unknown Greece - mini travel guides
It is obvious, from the above list, that some people tried
more than once to climb Olympus. Apparently the
motivation was a combination of the attraction of
mythology, natural environment and the untrodden
peaks. The latter is obvious in Boissonnas writing when
he managed to reach Myticas summit, the top of the
mountain in 1913 “We're finally here. On the untrodden
summit of Olympus. We're here, the first people after the
gods abandoned the place”.
All the above information comes from Nikos Nezis book
“Olympus” (1998, 2003) and also Sakis Kourouzidis book
A brief chronicle of the first ascend
In July 1913
the Swiss photographer Frederic
Boissonnas (18581946) and his compatriot Daniel Baud
Bovy (18701958), photographer – publisher, writer and
also dean of the School of Fine Arts in Geneva, after their
visit to the liberated Epirus, reached Salonica after an
official Greek state's invitation in order to watch and take
pictures of the warfare. The two Swiss, wanting to make
Published by: Nature Friends Greece | www.nfgr.org
the best between the two mandatory cholera vaccinations
decided to explore mount Olympus, fulfilling an old dream
of theirs.
On July 28th, they arrived by boat to Litohoro from
Salonica (usual for the time) and hired Christos Kakalos
(1882 1976), a wild goats hunter, to be their guide. On
the following day, they set off for St Dionyssios
Monastery where they arrived at noon.
Fred. Boissonnas and D.BaudBovy at Mytikas, six
years after the first historical ascend.
(photo: H.Boissonnas 1919)
12. 1859 P. Uspenskij – Russian traveller
13. 1862 Th. Orphanidis – Greek herbalist
14. 1862 H. Barth – German geographer
15. 1865 H Tozer – English geographer, alpinist
16. 1869 M. Gorceix – French professor
17. 1875 Gerstner – Austrian officer
18. 1875 M. Neumayr – Austrian geologist
19. 1875 D. Burgestein – Austrian geologist
20. 1889 P. Sintenis – Silesian (Polish) herbalist
21. 1891 P. Sintenis – Silesian (Polish) herbalist
22. 1891 J. Bornmueller – German herbalist
23. 1892 J. Glennie – Scot traveller
24. 1904 J. Cvilic – Serbian geologist
25. 1905 J. Cvilic – Serbian geologist
26. 1905 L. Adamovitsch – Serbian herbalist
27. 1907 Parthenios – Bishop of Kitrus
28. 1909 Ed. Richter – German engineer
29. 1910 Ed. Richter – German engineer
30. 1911 Ed. Richter – German engineer (arrested by
bandits)
On July 30th, they left Petrostrouga and its burnt forest.
From the plateau they climbed down steep scree and in
two hours they reached the edge of the forest, where
there was a hut used by loggers. In that hut they realized
what exactly was the "path" to the top of mount
Olympus.
On July 31st and although the team had planned to
return to Litochoro village, they changed their minds and
decided to climb up towards the highest summit of
Olympus.
Before dawn they set off in rather extreme weather
conditions with severe fog, hail and strong winds. After a
laborious ascent through small gullies, scree and steep
slippery rocks, they reached a narrow ridge. They
climbed in the mist, with Christos Kakalos leading the
climb barefoot followed by the two Swiss tied with a rope.
They eventually reached a slender eroded peak which
they named "Victory Top", thinking it was the highest
peak of Mount Olympus. The Swiss climbers wrote a few
words about the climb on a small card, put it in a bottle
and carefully placed it under a pile of stones to protect it
The unknown Greece mini travell guides, Issue 1
Olympus the mountain of Gods and Muses
3