Vale of Tempe Κοιλάδα των Τεμπών | |
---|---|
Floor elevation | approx. 267 metres (876 ft) |
Length | 12.4 kilometres (7.7 mi) |
Width | 0.7 to 1.5 kilometres (0.43 to 0.93 mi) |
Geography | |
Coordinates | 39°52′37″N 22°33′58″E / 39.877°N 22.566°E |
Rivers | Pineios River |
The Vale of Tempe (/ˈtɛmpi/;[1] Greek: Κοιλάδα των Τεμπών; Ancient Greek: Τέμπεα, Τέμπη[2]) is a gorge in the Tempi municipality of northern Thessaly, Greece, located between Olympus to the north and Ossa to the south, and between the regions of Thessaly and Macedonia. The gorge was known to the Byzantines as Λυκόστομο (Wolf's Throat) and was called simply Boğaz (Gorge) by the Turks.[3]
In the Greek municipality of Tempi, the valley is ten kilometers long and as narrow as 25 metres in places, with cliffs nearly 500 metres high. Through it flows the Pineios River on its way to the Aegean Sea. Historically the gorge has provided a strategic route through the mountains and its impressive rugged beauty has been poetically renowned.