8th day: Visit the Sacred Sanctuary of Zeus at Dion, on the slope s of the Mount Olympus. The ancient city owes its name to the most important Macedonian sanctuary dedicated to Zeus (Dias), leader of the gods who dwelt on Mount Olympus. As recorded by Hesiod's Catalogue of Women, Thyia, daughter of Deucalion, bore Zeus two sons, Magnes and Makednos, eponym of Macedonians, who dwelt in Pieria at the foot of Mount Olympus. Here from very ancient times, a large altar had been set up for the worship of Olympian Zeus and his daughters, the Muses, in a unique environment characterized by rich vegetation, towering trees, countless springs and a navigable river. For this reason Dion was the "sacred place" of the Ancient Macedonians. It was the place where the kings made splendid sacrifices to celebrate the new year of the Macedonian calendar at the end of September. In the Spring, purification rites of the army and victory feasts were held. The first mention of Dion in history comes from Thucydides, who reports that it was the first city reached by the Spartan general Brasidas after crossing from Thessaly into Macedonia on his way through the realm of his ally Perdiccas II during his expedition against the Athenian colonies of Thrace in 424 BC. Philip II and Alexander the Great celebrated victories here, and Alexander assembled his armies and performed magnificent sacrifices here on the eve of his campaign to Asia in 334BC.