Larissa ( el, Περιφερειακή ενότητα Λάρισας) is one of the
regional units of Greece
The 74 regional units of Greece ( el, περιφερειακές ενότητες, ; sing. , ) are the country's Seventy-four second-level Administrative divisions of Greece, administrative units. They are divisions of the country's 13 Modern reg ...
. It is part of the
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
of
Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...
. Its capital is the city of
Larissa. Total population 269,151 (2021).
Geography
Larissa is the second largest regional unit in Greece, exceeded only by
Aetolia-Acarnania
Aetolia-Acarnania ( el, Αιτωλοακαρνανία, ''Aitoloakarnanía'', ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the geographic region of Central Greece and the administrative region of West Greece. A combination of the histor ...
. It covers about one-third of Thessaly. It borders the regional units of
Kozani
Kozani ( el, Κοζάνη, ) is a city in northern Greece, capital of Kozani regional unit and of Western Macedonia. It is located in the western part of Macedonia, in the northern part of the Aliakmonas river valley. The city lies above sea ...
to the northwest,
Pieria to the northeast, the
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
to the east,
Magnesia to the southeast,
Phthiotis
Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is borde ...
to the south,
Karditsa
Karditsa ( el, Καρδίτσα ) is a city in western Thessaly in mainland Greece. The city of Karditsa is the capital of Karditsa regional unit of region of Thessaly.
Inhabitation is attested from 9000 BC. Karditsa ls linked with GR-30, the ...
to the southwest and
Trikala
Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...
to the west.
The tallest mountain in Greece,
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
(2,917 m) is situated in the northeastern part of the regional unit.
Mount Ossa is situated in the east, at the Aegean coast. The lower stretch of the river
Pineios flows through the
Vale of Tempe
The Vale of Tempe ( el, Κοιλάδα των Τεμπών) 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 ...
, between Olympus and Ossa.
The northern part is covered with
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
s, but most of the regional unit is fertile land, the
Thessalian Plain
The Thessalian plain ( el, Θεσσαλική πεδιάδα, Θεσσαλικός κάμπος) is the dominant geographical feature of the Greek region of Thessaly.
The plain is formed by the Pineios River and its tributaries and is surrounded ...
.
Climate
Larissa has a mainly
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
with hot summers and mild winters. Winter is harsher in the mountains areas, notably the north and Mount Olympus. Larissa is often the warmest area in Greece in summer and the coldest in winter. The highest temperature ever recorded was 45.4 °C (2000) and the coldest was -21.6 °C (1968). The city experiences very often temperatures over 40 °C.
Administration
The regional unit Larissa is subdivided into 7 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):
*
Agia (2)
*
Elassona
Elassona ( el, Ελασσόνα; Katharevousa: gr, Ἐλασσών, Elasson) is a town and a municipality in the Larissa regional unit in Greece. During antiquity Elassona was called Oloosson (Ὀλοοσσών) and was a town of the Perrhaebi ...
(3)
*
Farsala
Farsala ( el, Φάρσαλα), known in Antiquity as Pharsalos ( grc, Φάρσαλος, la, Pharsalus), is a city in southern Thessaly, in Greece. Farsala is located in the southern part of Larissa regional unit, and is one of its largest towns. ...
(7)
*
(4)
*
Larissa (''Larisa'', 1)
*
Tempi (5)
*
Tyrnavos
Tyrnavos ( el, Τύρναβος) is a municipality in the Larissa regional unit, of the Thessaly region of Greece. It is the second-largest town of the Larissa regional unit, after Larissa. The town is near the mountains and the Thessalian Plain ...
(6)
Prefecture
Larissa was created as a
prefecture ( el, Νομός Λάρισας) in 1882. As a part of the
2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Larissa was created out of the former prefecture Larissa. The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.
[
]
Historical Provinces
*Province of Larissa (Larissa)
*Province of Tyrnavos
Tyrnavos ( el, Τύρναβος) is a municipality in the Larissa regional unit, of the Thessaly region of Greece. It is the second-largest town of the Larissa regional unit, after Larissa. The town is near the mountains and the Thessalian Plain ...
(Tyrnavos)
*Province of Agia (Agia)
*Province of Elassona
Elassona ( el, Ελασσόνα; Katharevousa: gr, Ἐλασσών, Elasson) is a town and a municipality in the Larissa regional unit in Greece. During antiquity Elassona was called Oloosson (Ὀλοοσσών) and was a town of the Perrhaebi ...
(Elassona)
*Province of Farsala
Farsala ( el, Φάρσαλα), known in Antiquity as Pharsalos ( grc, Φάρσαλος, la, Pharsalus), is a city in southern Thessaly, in Greece. Farsala is located in the southern part of Larissa regional unit, and is one of its largest towns. ...
(Farsala)
''Note:'' Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
, they were abolished in 2006.
History
The area of Larissa was home to the Pelasgians until they merged into the broader Greek culture
The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Other cul ...
. The area was invaded and was ruled by the Kingdom of Macedonia
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
a few centuries later, and was conquered by the Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...
after the Third Macedonian War
The Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC) was a war fought between the Roman Republic and King Perseus of Macedon. In 179 BC, King Philip V of Macedon died and was succeeded by his ambitious son Perseus. He was anti-Roman and stirred anti-Roman ...
. The Roman imperial period
The Roman imperial period is the expansion of political and cultural influence of the Roman Empire. The period begins with the reign of Augustus (), and it is taken to end variously between the late 3rd and the late 4th century, with the beginning ...
was followed by Byzantine rule, which was in turn succeeded by the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. Parts of Thessaly revolted during the Greek War of Independence, but Thessaly remained under Ottoman Turkish rule. It was awarded to Greece in the Congress of Berlin
The Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878) was a diplomatic conference to reorganise the states in the Balkan Peninsula after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, which had been won by Russia against the Ottoman Empire. Represented at th ...
in 1878, and finally incorporated into the Hellenic Kingdom in 1881, albeit parts of the modern Larissa prefecture, including Tyrnavos
Tyrnavos ( el, Τύρναβος) is a municipality in the Larissa regional unit, of the Thessaly region of Greece. It is the second-largest town of the Larissa regional unit, after Larissa. The town is near the mountains and the Thessalian Plain ...
, Elassona
Elassona ( el, Ελασσόνα; Katharevousa: gr, Ἐλασσών, Elasson) is a town and a municipality in the Larissa regional unit in Greece. During antiquity Elassona was called Oloosson (Ὀλοοσσών) and was a town of the Perrhaebi ...
and Sarantaporo
Sarantaporo ( el, Σαραντάπορο) is a village and a former municipality in the Larissa regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Elassona, of which it is a municipal unit. Pop ...
, remained Ottoman. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897
The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897 ( or ), also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 (, ''Mauro '97'') or the Unfortunate War ( el, Ατυχής πόλεμος, Atychis polemos), was a w ...
, the area was successfully invaded by the Ottomans, but in the end Greece conceded only minor territorial losses. The northern portions of the prefecture, the Tempe Valley and Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
, were taken by Greece during the First Balkan War
The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...
in 1912-1913.
The economy increased since the annexation in 1881 and later after 1913 for the north. After the Greco-Turkish War in Asia Minor of 1920-1922, refugees were relocated to the Prefecture. Several villages were created for them across the prefecture. During World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the area was a major scene of partisan activity. The occupation and the subsequent Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War ( el, ο Eμφύλιος όλεμος}, ''o Emfýlios'' 'Pólemos'' "the Civil War") took place from 1946 to 1949. It was mainly fought against the established Kingdom of Greece, which was supported by the United Kingdom and ...
however destroyed most of the local infrastructure. From the 1950s on, the road network was significantly expanded: the GR-1 was opened in 1957 and extended in the 1960s to the Tempe Valley. In 1984, the University of Thessaly
The University of Thessaly (UTH; Greek: ) is a public university in Thessaly, Greece, founded in 1984. The university includes the main campus in the city of Volos and regional campuses located in Karditsa, Larissa, Trikala, and the city of Lamia. ...
opened its doors.
Economy
Its main economy since the 1970s are manufacturing, businesses, communications and services. Agriculture is the second leading industry.
Agriculture
The Thessalian Plain
The Thessalian plain ( el, Θεσσαλική πεδιάδα, Θεσσαλικός κάμπος) is the dominant geographical feature of the Greek region of Thessaly.
The plain is formed by the Pineios River and its tributaries and is surrounded ...
is famous for its crops including fruits (watermelon
Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varie ...
and melon
A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a " pepo". Th ...
), vegetables (tomato
The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...
es, potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
es, cucumbers, onion
An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...
s, etc.), cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...
, dairy, cattle and other crops.
Communications
Television
* TRT
*Thessaly
Newspapers
*'' Agrotikoi Ekfasi - Larissa
*''I Alitheia'' - Farsala
*'' Eleftheria'' - Larissa
*''I Foni'' - Farsala
*'' Imerisios Kirykas'' - Larissa
*''Ta Nea tis Farsalou'' - Farsala
Transport
There are a number of highways E75 and the main railway from Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
to Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
crosses Thessaly
Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...
. The region is directly linked to the rest of Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
through International Airport of Central Greece
Nea Anchialos National Airport ( gr, Κρατικός Αερολιμένας Νέας Αγχιάλου) is an airport located near the town of Nea Anchialos in Greece. It serves the department of Magnesia and is also known as ''Central Greece A ...
located in Nea Anchialos
Nea Anchialos ( el, Νέα Αγχίαλος) is a town and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Volos, of which it is a municipal unit. It is situated southwest ...
in a small distance from Larisa (26 kilometers).
*Greek National Road 1
Greek National Road 1 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 1, abbreviated as EO1) is the old single carriageway road connecting Athens with Thessaloniki and Evzonoi, the border crossing between Greece and North Macedonia. For most of its length, it has ...
/ E75, SE, Cen., E - partially a divided superhighway
*Greek National Road 3
Greek National Road 3 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 3, abbreviated as EO3) is a single carriageway road in Greece. It connects Elefsina near Athens with the border of North Macedonia at Niki. It passes through Larissa and Florina. At Niki, it conn ...
, S, Cen., NW
*Central Greece Motorway
Motorway 3 (A3), or the Central Greece motorway is a partially completed motorway in Greece. It will lead from the Motorway 1 near Lamia to the Motorway 2 near Grevena, passing Karditsa, Trikala and Kalambaka. It will carry the European route E6 ...
- future
*Greek National Road 6
Greek National Road 6 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 6, abbreviated as EO6) is a national road in north-central Greece. It begins at the port of Igoumenitsa and ends at Volos, passing through the towns Ioannina, Metsovo, Trikala and Larissa. The s ...
, W, Cen., SE
* Greek National Road 13, NW
* Greek National Road 26, NW
*Greek National Road 30
National Road 30 ( el, Εθνική Οδός 30, abbreviated as EO30) is a single carriageway road in central Greece. It connects the cities of Arta and Volos, via Trikala and Karditsa.
Route
The western end of the Greek National Road 30 is i ...
, S
* Larissa-Karditsa Road, S, SW
* Grevena-Elassona Road, NW
* Larissa-Melivoia Road, S, E
Sports
Sporting clubs include:
*
*Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C.
AEL Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΑΕΛ), also known by its full name Athlitiki Enosi Larissas ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λάρισας, translation=Athletic Union of Larissa), simply called AEL or Larissa, is a Greek professional footb ...
- the only football team in Greece that ever won a championship other than the teams from Athens and Thessaloniki.
*Olympia Larissa BC
Olympia Larissa B.C. (alternate spellings: Olimpia, Larissas, Larisa, Larisas) (Greek language, Greek: Ολύμπια Λάρισας) was a Greek professional basketball club, based in Larissa, Greece. The club's full name was Olympia Larissa Bask ...
* AEL 1964 BC
See also
*List of settlements in the Larissa regional unit
This is a list of settlements in the Larissa regional unit, Greece.
* Achilleio
* Aetolofos
* Agia
* Agia Sophia
* Agioi Anargyroi
* Agios Georgios, Farsala
* Agios Georgios, Kileler
* Agnanteri
* Aigani
* Akri
* Alexandrini
* Amouri
* ...
References
{{Authority control
Prefectures of Greece
Regional units of Thessaly