Fledge
Greece

National Parks

The twelve national parks, from Olympus to the marine parks

Mount Olympus

Mount Olympus. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Greece has twelve national parks, established from 1938 (Mount Olympus, the first) through the marine parks of the 1990s. They cover the country's great mountains, gorges, wetlands and seas: Olympus and Parnassus, the Vikos and Samaria gorges, the Prespa lakes, the Pindus forests, and the marine parks of Alonissos and Zakynthos.

Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus National ParkThessaly · The first national park (1938): the 2,918-m home of the gods.
The Parnassus ski center above Arachova
Parnassos National ParkCentral Greece · Mount Parnassus above Delphi, a park since 1938.
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Parnitha National ParkAttica · The mountain park north of Athens (1961): fir forest and red deer.
The Samaria Gorge, Crete
Samaria National ParkCrete · The great gorge of the White Mountains, a park since 1962.
Vikos Gorge in the Zagori, Epirus
Vikos-Aoos National ParkEpirus · The Vikos Gorge and the Aoos river, a park since 1973.
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Ainos National ParkIonian Islands · The Kefalonian fir forests of Mount Ainos (1962).
The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion
Sounio National ParkAttica · The coastal park of Cape Sounion around the Temple of Poseidon (1974).
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Oeta National ParkCentral Greece · Mount Oeta (1966): the Katavothra plateau and the Gorgopotamos.
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Pindus National Park (Valia Kalda)Epirus · The northern Pindus (1966): black pine forests, bears and wolves.
Lake Prespa
Prespes National ParkWestern Macedonia · The Prespa lakes (1974): Dalmatian pelicans and the island of Agios Achillios.
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Alonissos Marine ParkThessaly · The Northern Sporades marine park (1992): the refuge of the Mediterranean monk seal.
Marathonisi island in Laganas Bay, Zakynthos
Zakynthos National Marine ParkIonian Islands · The marine park (1999): the loggerhead turtle nesting beaches of Laganas Bay.

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