Olympus Geological History Museum

We would like to inform you that the Olympus Geological History Museum has been operating since 2013, in the town of Leptokaria in the Prefecture of Pieria, North Greece, and that it is in the Official Catalogue of Museums in the Greek Ministry of Culture.

The study for the Museum has been carried out by the Lecturer of Geology at the University of Lyon, France, Prof. Markos Vaxevanopoulos , in cooperation with Aggeliki Reizopoulou (MSc in Geology) and the Lecturer of Geology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Prof. Vasileios Melfos.

In the first Hall of the Museum, visitors can, first of all, learn about how Mount Olympus has evolved through the geological ages. Secondly, because it is an interactive Museum, visitors can see and hold in their hands unique fossils from Olympus such as Jurassic Ammonites and seashells that are in no other museum in the world. Furthermore, visitors can observe how glaciers have affected Olympus and how caves have been formed.

The collection of minerals, crystals, and fossils is the result of 35 years of personal expeditions on Olympus and around Greece by the founders of the museum Mr. George Arzanas and his wife, Landa-Anna Lukasevits, who are also the guides at the museum.

In addition, visitors can admire the minerals that are mentioned in the ancient text “About Stones” or “Lithika of Orpheus” in which we learn about the properties that the ancient people believed that the minerals and crystals had. Orpheus is known to have lived and died at Livethra, an ancient archaeological site at the base of Mount Olympus, close to modern-day Leptokaria.

In the second Hall of the Museum, we have a presentation in which we talk about rocks, stones, minerals, and fossils and their significance, from different parts of Greece. There are also paintings, woodwork and mosaics which refer to Olympus, Orpheus, and Alexander the Great.

In the presentation, we give examples of how Geology is closely connected to Mythology, in which case we have the term Geomythology.

Finally, at night, visitors also have the opportunity to observe the planets (Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn), and the Moon through our telescope. To fully appreciate the visit to the Museum, we recommend that you spend at least one hour. The Museum is open every day!

Olympus Geological History Museum Ticket prices:
Children = 2 € Adults = 3 €

Open Hours:
10:00 – 14:00 / 20:00 – 23:00

Telephones:
Museum 23520 31901
George Arzanas 6958356689
Landa-Anna Lukasevits 6946381779