Larissa
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Categories: Greek prefectural capitals | Cities and towns in Greece | Greek regional capitals | Larissa
Larissa (Greek: Λάρισα, Lárisa) is the capital city of the Thessaly periphery of Greece, and capital of the Larissa Prefecture. It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transportation hub, linked by rail with the port of Volos and with Thessaloniki and Athens. The population of the greater area is around 250,000, and takes in the Municipalities of Nikaia, Giannouli and other smaller suburban communities. According to archaeological evidence, the capital of Thessaly, Larissa, lies atop a site that has been inhabited since the tenth millennium before Christ. A major commercial and industrial centre, Larissa sits in the middle of the plain of Thessaly, a few kilometers off the Athens-Thessaloniki National Road. Legend has it that Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, died here. A well known rhyming quip in Greece runs, 'Λάρισα, Λάρισα σε είδα και λαχτάρισα' , translated as 'Larissa, Larissa, I saw you and yearned for you' ; this was before the city was covered in concrete.
GeographyThere are a number of highways E75 and the main railway from Athens to Thessaloniki (Salonika) crosses Thessaly. The region is directly linked to the rest of Europe through International Airport of Central Greece located in Nea Anchialos in a small distance from Larisa. The Larissa Chasma on Dione, an important location in Roman History when Greece was part of the Roman Empire during ancient times was named after Larissa. HistoryAntiquityTraces of Paleolithic human settlement have been recovered from the area, but it was peripheral to areas of advanced culture.[3] The area around Larissa was extremely fruitful - it was agriculturally important and in antiquity was known for its horses. The city finally moved closer to the rest of Greece. The name Larissa,[4] inherited from the Pelasgian settlers— an alternative name for the district was Pelasgiotis— was common to many Pelasgian towns: the ancient Greek word larissa means "stronghold". The name is also carried by the Greek nymph Larissa, daughter of Pelasgus.[5] Larissa is thought to be where the famous Greek physician Hippocrates and the famous philosopher Gorgias of Leontini died. When Larissa ceased minting the federal coins it shared with other Thessalian towns and adopted its own coinage in the late fifth century B.C., it chose local types for its coins. The obverse depicted the local fountain nymph Larissa, for whom the town was named, probably inspired by the famous coins of Kimon depicting the Syracusan nymph Arethusa. The reverse depicted a horse in various poses. The horse was an appropriate symbol of Thessaly, a land of plains, which was well-known for its horses. Usually there's a male figure; he should perhaps be seen as the eponymous hero of the Thessalians, Thessalos, who is probably also to be identified on many of the earlier, federal coins of Thessaly. Hellenistic and Roman eraLarissa, sometimes written Larisa on ancient coins and inscriptions, is near the site of the Homeric Argissa. It appears in early times, when Thessaly was mainly governed by a few aristocratic families, as an important city under the rule of the Aleuadae, whose authority extended over the whole district of Pelasgiotis. This powerful family possessed for many generations before 369 BC the privilege of furnishing the Tagus, or generalissimo, of the combined Thessalian forces. The principal-rivals of the Aleuadae were the Scopadac of Crannon, the remains of which (called by the Turks Old Larissa) are about 14 miles south west. The inhabitants sided with Athens during the Peloponnesian War. The chief city of ancient Thessaly, Larissa, was directly annexed by Philip II of Macedon in 344, and from then on Larissa was under Macedonian control; in 196 B.C. Larissa became an ally of Rome and was the headquarters of the Thessalian League. Since the 5th century it has been the seat of an archbishop. Modern Greek eraThe town was taken from the Byzantine Empire by Bulgaria and later held by Serbia, with which it passed in the 15th century under the rule of the Ottoman Turks. Larissa was the headquarters of Ali Pasha during the Greek War of Independence, and of the crown prince Constantine during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897. The flight of the Greek army from here to Pharsala took place on the April 23 1897. Until 1881 Larissa was the seat of a pasha in the wilaya of Iannina; and known in Turkish as Yenişehr-i Fenar (New Town in Greece). Its long subjection to Ottoman rule has left little trace of antiquity. In the 19th century, there was a small village in the outskirts of town very unusually inhabited by Africans from the Sudan, a curious remnant of the forces collected by Ali Pasha. In the 19th century, the town produced leather, cotton, silk and tobacco. Fevers and agues were prevalent owing to bad drainage and the overflowing of the river; and the death-rate was higher than the birth rate. It was also renowned for the minarets of its mosques (four of which were still in use in the early part of the 20th century) and the Muslim burial grounds. A considerable portion of the Turkish population emigrated in 1881. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, Turkish troops entered the city once again in April 25. After a treaty for peace was signed, they withdrew and Larissa remained permanently in Greece. This was followed by a further exodus of Turks in 1898. Historical populationImage:Larissa (Greece).jpg
Larissa from space, November 2004
Archaeological Sites
Museums
Sites of Interest
Squares
Districts (Quarters)The Municipality of Larissa is divided in 2 Municipal Districts (Larissa & Terpsithea). The Municipal District of Larissa is subdivided into 4 city-districts (29 quartes) & 2 suburban districts (Amphithea & Koulourion). The Municipal District of Terpsithea is subdivided into 2 suburban districts (Terpsithea & Argyssa).
Transport
Higher Education and Research
Sports
Sporting teams
Famous People
Sister citiesSee also
Notes
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
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