Mount Oeta is a mountain in Central Greece. A southeastern offshoot of the Pindus range, it is high. Since 1966, the core area of the mountain is a national park, and much of the rest has been declared a protected area under Natura 2000.
Location and description
Mount Oeta is located on the boundaries of the prefectures of Phocis in the south and Phthiotis in the north. Its northern side displays a steep and inaccessible terrain as it descends to the valley of the river Spercheios, forming a series of deep gorges—most famous of which is that of the Gorgopotamos river—a few of which boast large waterfalls, including the Kremastos waterfall, considered the highest in Central Greece. To the east, Oeta is defined by the gorge of the Asopos river, which forms its boundary with the neighbouring Mount Kallidromo. The southern slopes of Oeta are very gentle, bordering with the mountains Vardousia to the southwest and Giona to the southeast. On its western slope, Oeta is separated from Mount Goulina by the valley of the river Vistriza, ancient Inachos. Oeta has a complex hydrogeology. Limestone and flysch, coupled with a complex geomorphology, combine to create a large network of sinkholes and caverns, giving rise to many springs, small rivers, and seasonal ponds in the main plateaus, chiefly those of Livadies, Amaliolaka and Katavothra. Three major rivers spring forth from the mountain: Gorgopotamos and Asopos from the east, and Vistriza/Inachos from the west, all of which are tributaries of Spercheios. The streams of the southern slope flow into the riverMornos. The mountain's tallest peak, Pyrgos, has a height of, while the second-tallest is that of Greveno at. A total of 22 settlements are located on Mount Oeta:
In 1966, Mount Oeta became the sixth of Greece's national parks in accordance with Royal Decree 218/1966. With an area of 7,000 hectares, of which 3,370 form the core zone and 3,630 the periphery, the park covers approximately one fourth of the mountain's area and is the third largest in Greece. Any human activity that impacts the local environment in whatsoever way is forbidden within the national park's boundaries. The area of the national park has furthermore been declared a Special Area of Conservation as part of the Natura 2000 Network. The Gorgopotamos Gorge has also been declared a SAC, and together with the national park and the Asopos valley forms the broader "Mount Oeta National Park - Asopos Valley" Special Protected Area. Oeta also has two wildlife refuges, where hunting is forbidden: the Skasmeni Frantzi – Dyo Vouna area on the northeastern slopes, and the Oiti–Pavliani area on the southeastern. The national park and protected areas are overseen by the Management Body of Mt Oiti National Park, established as an agency of the Ministry of the Environment in 2002.
In Greek mythology, Oeta is chiefly celebrated as the scene of Heracles' death, and Roman authors even gave the demi-god the epithet Oetaeus. Prepared to die, he ascended Mount Oeta, where he built a funeral pyre, gave his bow and arrows to Philoctetes, and laid himself down on the pile, his head resting on his club, and his lion's skin spread over him, and commanded Philoctetes to apply the torch to the pyre. Another version of the story claims that Zeus threw a lightning bolt on the site of Heracles' death, and that from this place sprung forth the Gorgopotamos river. The remains of a 3rd-century BC Doric temple dedicated to Heracles and his funeral pyre, as well as an altar and ruins of adjacent buildings, still survive at the entrance of the Katavothra plateau at a height of 1,800 m, near the village of Pavliani. The temple complex remained in use until late Roman times. In historical times, the area of Oeta belonged to southern Thessaly, forming its southernmost district, that of Oetaea. A city called Oeta was also said to have been founded by Amphissus, son of Apollo and Dryope, on the territory of the Malians. Further north, Hypate/Hypata, modern Ypati, was the chief city of the Aenianes, and a member of the Aetolian League. The women of Hypate were associated with witchcraft in Antiquity: the sorceresses Mycale and Agaonice, called the Pharmacidae, inhabited the area. Even in more recent times, the precipice of Anemotrypa near the town was said to be the haunt of the crone Lyousa Armagou.
Middle Ages
Hypate is still mentioned in the 6th century by the historian Procopius of Caesarea, who recorded repairs to its walls by Emperor Justinian I, and in the Synecdemus. The city may have been abandoned after the Slavic invasions of the 7th century, and reappears in the 10th century under the name Neai Patrai or Patrai Helladikai. Until the 13th century, the city is mentioned only as an ecclesiastical center, being a metropolitan bishopric with one and eventually twelve suffragans. The city played a major role in the latter 13th century, when it was the capital of the independent Greek rulers of Thessaly, John I Doukas, Constantine Doukas and John II Doukas. The Catalan Company seized Neopatras and much of Phthiotis and southern Thessaly in 1319, forming the new Duchy of Neopatras, a vassal of the Duchy of Athens. It was one of the last remaining Catalan possessions in Greece, and fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1394. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the fortress town of Siderokastron was also located on the eastern slopes of Oeta. The Agathonos Monastery, dating at least to the 15th century, lies on the northern slopes of the mountain near Ypati.
