Troodos Mountains

Troodos
Trees of Mount Olympus
Highest point
Peak	Mount Olympus
Naming
Native name	Τρόοδος (Greek) Trodos Dağları (Turkish)
Geography
Country	Cyprus

Troodos (sometimes spelled Troödos; Greek: Τρόοδος [ˈtɾo.oðos]; Turkish: Trodos Dağları ['tɾo.dos]) is the largest mountain range in Cyprus, located in roughly the center of the island. Its highest peak is Mount Olympus (Greek: Όλυμπος), also known as Chionistra (Greek: Χιονίστρα), at 1,952 metres (6,404 ft), which hosts the Sun Valley and North Face ski areas with their five ski lifts.

The Troodos mountain range stretches across most of the western side of Cyprus. There are many mountain resorts, Byzantine monasteries, and churches on mountain peaks, and nestling in its valleys and mountains are villages clinging to terraced hills. The area has been known since antiquity for its mines, which for centuries supplied copper to the entire Mediterranean. In the Byzantine period it became a centre of Byzantine art, as churches and monasteries^[1] were built in the mountains, away from the threatened coastline. The mountains are also home to RAF Troodos, a listening post for the NSA and GCHQ.^[2]

The name Troodos probably comes from one of two sources: either τρία + ὁδός (tría + hodós), referring to the three roads that lead to the mountain, or τό + ὄρος + Ἄδος (to + oro + Ados), meaning the mountains of Adonis.^[3][4]