With its Mediterranean climate, Olympos is rainy and humid in the winter and dry and hot in the summer. It’s possible to swim in the sea from the beginning of April to the end of September.

Olympos was established in the Hellenistic Age. In 100 B.C., it became one of the six principal members of the Lycian League which were entitled to three votes. Coinage was struck here in the 2nd century B.C. It became a place frequented by pirates, often led by Zenicetes, during the 1st century B.C. This fearless pirate was finally defeated in 78 B.C. by the Roman Governor of Lycia, Publius Servilius İsaurieus, in an open-sea battle, after which Olympos and the surrounding area were combined to become a Roman province. During the Roman Era, the area became quite famous with the Haphaistos Cult and their God of the Blacksmith; they worshipped at the site of the natural gas that spews from the ground at nearby Çırali.

During the 3rd century A.D., the Lycian philanthropist Opramoas from Rhodiapolis made lavish gifts of money to Olympos to have many new buildings erected and old ones repaired. Thus, Olympos grew extremely prosperous during this century, but it was in the 3rd century when the pirates returned to annoy Olympos. The pirate raids were the reason this rich and flourishing city became impoverished overnight and lost its importance. From this point on, the city continued its existence as an insignificant small town.

The city was rejuvenated during the Middle Ages when the Venetians, the Genoese and the Knights of Rhodes were all in their heyday. However, with the onslaught of supreme Ottoman fleets, the city’s significance had waned irreparably to the point that it was abandoned completely during the 15th century.