Olympos, Mount

   One of the great monastic holy mountains of Byzantium (q.v.), along with Mount Athos, Latros, Meteora, the Monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai, and Wondrous Mountain (qq.v.). Located in Bithynia (q.v.), its numerous monasteries included those on Mount Olympos itself, and those within the mountain's larger environs, extending from Prousa to the Sea of Marmara (qq.v.). Some of the monasteries of the region (e.g., at Atroa, Medikion, and Pelekete) were renowned for their resistance to Iconoclasm (q.v.). Around 764, for example, Michael Lachanodrakon (q.v.) burned down the monastery of Pelekete, torturing and killing some of the monks who were noted for their resistance to Iconoclasm. The region produced numerous saints, including Euthymios the Younger, patriarch Methodios (qq.v.), Peter of Atroa, Plato of Sakkoudion, and Theodore of Stoudios (q.v.). It was also a place that received high officials forced out of office, such as Michael Psellos (q.v.), who became a monk there at the end of his career.