The first photos ever of Mt Olympus

As you may know if you follow my posts, I am working for a small local newspaper in northern Greece. 

Today I was preparing a historical article for our website and while doing that, I stumbled upon some really cool historical shit, including the first ever photos of Mt. Olympus and its peak. They were taken by Frédéric Boissonnas, a Swiss photographer from Geneva whose work is considered crucial for the development of photography in Greece during the early 20th century. Here's a photo of him:

The really cool photos you are about to see were taken during the first "official" conquer of Mt. Olympus, in 2 August 1913. The members of that expedition were Frederic Boissonna, Daniel Baud-Bovy and their Greek tour guide, Chris Kakalos. According to the official history, this was the first time the highest peak of Mt. Olympus was conquered. But to be honest, I bet many other humans had set foot there before. After all, conquering Mt. Olympus during summer is a relatively easy task as the peak lays at only 2.918 m height. Perhaps a sheperd. Perhaps a curious adventurer. Perhaps whatever. I find it really hard to believe that in the 3000 + years that humans actively inhabited the surrounding area nobody before Frederic had succesfully managed to reach the peak...

Oh well.. Who knows. Enjoy the photos:

Olympus' highest peak, Mytikas

The "throne of zeus" (2,902 metres)

Chris Kakalos

Petrostrouga location

From left to right: Boissonnas, Kakalos and Daniel Baud Bovy

Just a rando shepherd with his flock somewhere in Olympus

Of course a bunch of old black and white photos can't do Mt. Olympus any justice. Here's a video that will reveal to you some of its secrets:

Ok, that's it for today. See ya in tomorrows post :* 

Copyright Mumbo Jumbo

• All these photos have been taken over 100 years ago which means that they have long lost their copyrights and belong to the public domain. Which means I can steal them and profit. I like stealing. I like profit. Win, win.