Mainalo
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Mainalo (Template:Langx, Template:Langx; Template:Langx[1]) is the tallest mountain in the Menalon highlands of the Peloponnese, and is located in Arcadia.
The mountain's highest point, known as both Profitis Ilias and Ostrakina,[2][3] at a height of 1,981 m (6,499 ft),[2] is the highest point in Arcadia.[4] The mountain has a length of 15 to 20 kilometres (9.3 to 12.4 mi) from southwest of Tripoli to northeast of Vytina, and a width of 5 to 10 kilometres (3.1 to 6.2 mi) from Zygovisti to Kapsas.[4] The mountain is part of a Natura 2000 site, designated in March 2011, covering an area of 226.4 square kilometres (87.4 mi2).[5] In the 19th and early 20th century, the mountain was known as Apano Chrepa.[6]
While the mountain takes its name from the ancient Mount Mainalos, and the ancient city of Maenalus which stood at its summit,[1][7] modern scholars now identify the location of the ancient mountain as "Ágios Ilías", a mountain 25 kilometres (16 mi) further south near the town of Asea. The name was likely mistakenly connected to the mountain now known as Mainalo by earlier European travelers.[8][9] According to ancient Greek mythology, Mount Mainalos got its name from Maenalus, son of Lykaon, king of Arcadia,[10] and in antiquity the mountain was especially sacred to Pan.[1]
Mainalo is home to a ski resort, which is found at an elevation of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft), with 7 ski slopes and 4 lifts,[11] which are at an altitude between 1,550 to 1,770 metres (5,090 to 5,810 ft).[4]
Climate
Below the data of the National Observatory of Athens station in the doline of Kehroti in Mainalo.
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Geography
Mainalo's ground is primarily made of lime, among various calcareous substrates.[5]
Mainalo has various named peaks. Listed by height, they are, among others;[2][3]
- Ostrakina (Template:Langx) or Profitis Ilias (Template:Langx) at 1,981 metres (6,499 ft)
- Pateritsa (Template:Langx) at 1,875 metres (6,152 ft)
- Aidini (Template:Langx) at 1,849 metres (6,066 ft)
- Mavri Koryfi (Template:Langx) at 1,818 metres (5,965 ft)
- Mourtzia (Template:Langx) at 1,794 metres (5,886 ft)
- Mesovouni (Template:Langx) at 1,730 metres (5,680 ft)
- Krevatia (Template:Langx) at 1,563 metres (5,128 ft)
- Epano Chrepa (Template:Langx) at 1,559 metres (5,115 ft)
- Lioritsi (Template:Langx) at 1,155 metres (3,789 ft)
- Sterna (Template:Langx) at 1,071 metres (3,514 ft)
The record low temperature of −35.3 °C (−31.5 °F) was registered on 17 January 2012 in Mainalo sinkhole.[13]
Ecology
The mountain houses many forests of Greek fir and Crimean pine. Natura 2000 cites these forests as the "[Greek fir and Crimean pine's] best representation in Peloponnisos."[5]
Mainalo has several ecological environments, comprising:[5]
- Mediterranean arborescent matorrals, covering 8.96 square kilometres (3.46 mi2) of the mountain, this environment consists of Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean sclerophyllous evergreen shrublands grouped under arborescent junipers.[14]:59
- Endemic oro-Mediterranean heaths with gorse, covering 5.57 square kilometres (2.15 mi2) of the mountain, this environment consists of a dry mountainous environment. Mediterranean heaths are usually dominated by Genista, while containing various other, often spined, shrubs like Acantholimon, Astragalus, Erinacea, Bupleurum, Ptilotrichum, Echinospartum, and Anthyllis. This environment also includes a variety of Asteraceae and Lamiaceae.[14]:53
- Calcareous rocky slopes with chasmophytic vegetation, covering 0.22 square kilometres (0.085 mi2) of the mountain, this environment consists of limestone cliffs and screes, featuring great ecological diversity, with many endemic plants growing in fissures within rock.[14]:96
Many amphibians, reptiles, mammals, insects, and diurnal predatory birds inhabit Mainalo. These include, among others;[5]
- Reptiles such as the Balkan whip snake, marginated tortoise, Kotschy's gecko, Greek rock lizard, Peloponnese wall lizard, European copper skink, and the horned viper.
- Mammals such as the European hare, beech marten, European badger, lesser noctule bat, edible dormouse, Thomas's pine vole, and the western broad-toothed field mice.
- Amphibians such as the European green toad, European tree frog, and the Syrian spadefoot.
- Birds such as the northern goshawk, Eurasian sparrowhawk, common buzzard, common kestrel, and the peregrine falcon.
- Insects such as the Kretania sephirus butterfly, Persian skipper butterfly, eastern orange tip butterfly and the mountain small white butterfly.
References
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- ^ a b c Public Domain Script error: No such module "template wrapper".
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
oreivwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Στην κορυφή Τζελάτη του Μαινάλου [At the Tzelati peak of Mainalo]. hikingexperience.gr (in Greek). 15 October 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Mainalo". Peloponnese Travel Guide in Greece - Peloponnese.eu. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Template:Natura 2000
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Orr, James (1915). "Greece; Graecia". International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Vol. II. Chicago: Howard-Severance Co. p. 1296 – via Archive.org.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Leake, William Martin (1846). "Gates of Helos". Peloponnesiaca: a Supplement to Travels on the Moréa. London: J. Rodwell. pp. 241–243 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Forsén, Björn (2020). "Tuntemattoman Mainalosjuoksu - Antiikin kisan henkiinherättäminen" [The Unknown Mainalo Race - Reviving the Ancient Competition] (PDF). Helikon (in suomi). 1: 2–5. ISSN 0785-2703. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2021.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Report of work conducted in 2011 - The Deity and the Sanctuary". Arachamitai Project. 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."LYCAON (Lykaon) - Arcadian King of Greek Mythology". Theoi Project. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Ostrakina Ski Center - Mainalon". Greek Travel Pages. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Meteo.gr - Προγνώσεις καιρού για όλη την Ελλάδα".
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Meteosearch". meteosearch.meteo.gr. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Interpretation Manual of European Union Habitats (PDF). EUR 28. European Commission, DG-ENV. April 2013.
External links
Page Template:Sister-inline/styles.css has no content.Script error: No such module "Sister project logo". Media related to Script error: No such module "Commons link". at Wikimedia Commons
