Olympos was an ancient city in Lycia from the Hellenistic period. Its coins date back to the 2nd Century BC. The city became one of the six leading cities of the Lycıan League. Olympus was invaded and settled by Cilician pirates until it became part of the Roman Empire. The chief god of Olympos was Hephaestus, God of Fire and Blacksmiths. Even today, located in the neighbouring village of Cirali rising 200 metres above sea level the fires of Mt Olympos (called Chimaera) can be seen. The source of the flames is methane gas seeping up through the ground. Mythical Chimera was a monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent who roamed nearby with fire sprouting from her mouth! In the middle ages the Venetians Genoese and Rhodians built fortresses along the coast but it was abandoned sometime in the 15th CAD.
