SANTOS, Brazil (AP) — As the FIFA World Cup approaches, the image of one of Brazil's most recognizable footballers lives on in Santos, the one-time home of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, far better known as Pelé.
Tourists like Mario Álvarez Gamiño, a 67-year-old retired salesperson from Mexico, flock to Santos to see anything that connects the Brazilian port city to the man. The soccer legend's legacy is everywhere — in vibrant murals by street artist Eduardo Kobra, among the memorabilia of his beloved club and even on posters glued to local lampposts.
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People visit the Pele Museum in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Children visit the Pele Museum in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Santos fans walk past a mural of late football legend Pele, right, and Neymar outside Vila Belmiro Stadium in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Santos' Vila Belmiro stadium sits in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
A man sits in front of a mural of late football legend Pele and Neymar at a restaurant in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
“His legacy is fundamental. His life will always be an example to follow,” Álvarez said. “At the moment we have Cristiano Ronaldo ... but he lacks something that Pelé had, which is humility. ... He was really a genius.”
Pelé, who died in 2022 at age 82, played at Santos Futebol Clube for most of his career, from 1956 to 1974. He also played for Brazil's team in the World Cup — including three wins in 1958, 1962 and 1970.
Santos is also home to the Pelé Museum, where fans can learn more about Pelé's life and see various memorabilia, including jerseys and trophies.
“When you tell a foreigner you’re from Santos, the first thing they say is ‘Pelé’. That’s why we at the museum have a great responsibility: to carry the name of Pelé and the city of Santos,” said museum director Paulo Monteiro. "After his death, we now have a greater and more difficult mission, which is to keep his legacy active and alive.”
Many of the more than 400,000 residents of Santos never had the chance to see Pelé in action, but they want the legacy to live on.
Among them is bar owner Anderson Albino.
“As local business owners, we see how much international media comes here and how that draws huge numbers of visitors,” Albino said. “For those of us from the city, it’s a privilege that Pelé played for Santos.”
Savarese reported from Sao Paulo.
AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
People visit the Pele Museum in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Children visit the Pele Museum in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Santos fans walk past a mural of late football legend Pele, right, and Neymar outside Vila Belmiro Stadium in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Santos' Vila Belmiro stadium sits in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
A man sits in front of a mural of late football legend Pele and Neymar at a restaurant in Santos, Brazil, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
LITOCHORO, Greece (AP) — Snow-capped for much of the year, Mount Olympus, mythological home of ancient Greece’s 12 Olympian gods, has captured the imagination through the millennia. Rising to 2,918 meters (9,573 feet) from a base practically at sea level, the ancient Greeks believed the throne of Zeus, king of the gods, stood on the highest of its craggy, often mist-shrouded peaks.
Now, modern-day Greeks hope their tallest mountain will be inducted into UNESCO’s World Heritage List as a mixed cultural and natural site. The nomination is to be discussed when the World Heritage Committee meets in Busan, South Korea from Sunday through July 29.
“Olympus is our life. It is the place we grew up in,” said Evagelos Geroliolios, mayor of Dion-Olympus, based in Litochoro, the mountain’s main town. “It is the place we see every day, but at the same time, it is also a place which carries with it myth, history, biodiversity, extraordinary beauty and a very great cultural weight.”
Few locations are as central to ancient Greek mythology as Mount Olympus. It was here that Zeus was said to have established his court after overthrowing his father, Cronus, in a 10-year war that ended the reign of the Titans.
Interest in Olympus may receive another boost with the theatrical release this week of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” a new adaptation of Homer’s epic, in which the mountain serves as the home of Zeus and the Olympian gods who influence Odysseus’ journey.
On one of Olympus’s lower peaks, excavations have uncovered an open-air sanctuary, with the oldest finds dating to the Hellenistic period, which ran from 323 B.C. to 30 B.C. According to Greece’s original UNESCO nomination, the sanctuary is believed to have been one mentioned by the ancient philosopher and historian Plutarch, who in the 2nd century wrote of processions to one of Olympus’s peaks for animal sacrifices to Zeus.
The mountain retained religious significance into the Christian era. Α chapel on the peak of Prophet Elias, at 2,803 meters, is believed to be the highest altitude chapel in the Christian Orthodox world. The mountain’s Enipeas Gorge holds the remains of a monastery founded in 1542, while a roughly 20-minute walk from there leads to the Holy Cave of St. Dionysios, a chapel built into a cave from where a small spring flows, believed to carry holy water.
The mountain’s slopes, which reach practically to the sea, also host a wealth of flora and fauna, including endemic species. It is this blending of culture, myth, natural beauty and biodiversity that locals hope will see their mountain declared a World Heritage site.
“It is a place we love. It is a place that many people from all over the world visit to see, to live, to experience. We want to protect it,” Geroliolios said. Its inclusion on UNESCO’s list would be “something very big that goes beyond not just local boundaries, but national boundaries. It is something that concerns the entire world. It is very important.”
Greece began the process to have Mount Olympus recognized as a World Heritage site in 2014, inscribing it on its Tentative List — the mandatory first step in any nomination. The Tentative List is where countries include sites they can then formally nominate over the next five to 10 years.
The nomination process includes a preliminary assessment followed by submission of a full nomination file, which is then evaluated over 14 months by advisory bodies, including the International Council on Monuments and Sites, ICOMOS, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Recommendations by the advisory bodies are then discussed during the World Heritage Committee’s annual meeting, where representatives of 21 countries vote on nominated sites.
Greece's Mount Olympus nomination is far from certain. A draft of the Busan meeting's agenda indicates the committee will refer the nomination back to Greece and request further details.
Still, locals hope the mountain’s cultural and natural wonders will secure it a place and will play a role in securing more protection for the mountain.
The mayor, Geroliolios, said inclusion on the World Heritage list “places some greater obligations on our part to protect this environment.”
Environmental protection is also foremost in the mind of mountain guide Babis Marinidis, president of the Alpine Club of Litochoro.
Including Olympus on UNESCO’s World Heritage list would likely attract more people to the mountain and the surrounding area, Marinidis said. “How many people can this mountain, this ecosystem, bear?” he asked. Although much of Olympus was designated a national park decades ago and there are regulations in place, many are openly flouted, with Marinidis saying visitors regularly ignore “no swimming” or “no camping” signs.
The ever-growing number of visitors had led local authorities to consider imposing entrance fees and registering visitor numbers. “I used to be against that,” Marinidis said. “But now with so many people, I believe some limit must be imposed.”
The mythological home of the gods attracts hikers and mountaineers from across the world. While technical climbing experience isn’t mandatory to reach the summit, the mountain is also not to be trifled with.
With its combination of changeable weather and treacherous terrain, it has claimed many lives. The most recent fatality was on July 11, when a 64-year-old Greek hiker died after collapsing on a trail. In May, rescue crews found the body of a 25-year-old Spanish man days after he went missing while attempting to reach the summit in the snow.
“You need to be careful,” and safety measures must always be kept in mind, said 32-year-old hiker Triantafyllos Giannospyros, who was visiting the mountain for the first time. “But with care and with good organization, it isn’t something you should be afraid of.”
Stavroula Vourou, who runs a hotel in Litochoro, the town from where many hikers set off, echoed his sentiment.
“Everyone sets off to go up and conquer a mountain that needs respect,” she said. “You respect this mountain, it respects you too.”
Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Associated Press journalist Srdjan Nedeljkovic contributed to this report.
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
A statue of Alexander the Great holding Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, stands near Litochoro in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, backdropped by Mount Olympus' highest peaks, Mytikas and Stefani. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Theodoris Papaioannou tends his kiwi orchard, backdropped by Mount Olympus, near the village of Dion in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A butterfly stands on a wildflower in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
The morning light shines on Mytikas, Greece's highest peak, center left, and Stefani, known as the Throne of Zeus, center right, atop Mount Olympus seen from the outskirts of Litochoro in northern Greece, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A visitor approaches a chapel at the Holy Cave of St. Dionysios in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Candles burn outside a chapel at the Holy Cave of St. Dionysios in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
People swim beneath a waterfall in the Enipeas Gorge on Mount Olympus in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
A statue of Alexander the Great holding Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, stands near Litochoro in northern Greece, Tuesday, July 14, 2026, backdropped by Mount Olympus' highest peaks, Mytikas and Stefani. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
Sunflowers bloom in Kalyvia Varikou, near Litochoro in northern Greece, backdropped by Mount Olympus, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
