Greek National Road 1 (, abbreviated as EO1) is the old

single carriageway A single carriageway (British English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation, central reservation/median strip to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road is a type of ...

road connecting

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

with

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

and

Evzonoi Evzonoi (, , before 1927: Ματσίκοβο - ''Matsikovo'', , , , ''Machukovo'') is a town in Kilkis regional unit in Central Macedonia, Greece. The main border crossing between Greece and North Macedonia is located here. The village across the ...

, the border crossing between

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. For most of its length, it has been replaced by the new A1 motorway.

Original route

Ministerial Decision G25871 of 9 July 1963 officially defined the EO1 as a major north-south route between

to the south and

and the international border with the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

(now with

) to the north: the decree specified that the EO1 would pass through

Decelea Decelea (, ), ''Dekéleia''), was a deme and ancient village in northern Attica serving as a trade route connecting Euboea with Athens, Greece. It was situated near the entrance of the eastern pass across Mount Parnes, which leads from the north ...

, , Martino,

Atalanti Atalanti ( ''Atalantē'') is the second largest town in Phthiotis, Greece. It is located southeast of Lamia (city), Lamia, north of Livadeia and northwest of Chalcis. In 2011, it was incorporated into the municipality of Lokroi (mu ...

, Kamena Vourla,

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; ; Ancient: , Katharevousa: ; ; "hot gates") is a narrow pass and modern town in Lamia (city), Lamia, Phthiotis, Greece. It derives its name from its Mineral spring, hot sulphur springs."Thermopylae" in: S. Hornblower & A. Spaw ...

, Lamia, Stylida,

Almyros Almyros or Halmyros (, ) is a town and a municipality of the regional units of Greece, regional unit of Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia, modern regions of Greece, region of Thessaly, Greece. It lies in the center of prosperous fertile plain know ...

, Velestino,

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

, Tempe,

Katerini Katerini (, ''Kateríni'', ) is a city and municipality in northern Greece, the capital city of Regional Unit of Piera in Central Macedonia, Greece. It lies on the Pierian plain, between Mount Olympus and the Thermaikos Gulf, at an altitude ...

, Alexandreia, Chalkidona, Gefyra and

Polykastro Polykastro (, before 1928 , ''Karasoúli''; ''Pandektis: Name Changes of Settlements in Greece'', compiled by the/ref>) is a town and a former municipality in Kilkis (regional unit), Kilkis regional unit of Central Macedonia, Greece. Since the 20 ...

. The EO1 overlapped with the EO6 from Velestino to Larissa, and with the EO2 from Chalkidona to Gefyra.Ministerial Decision G25871/1963
(FEK B' 319/23.07.1963, pp. 2500–2501).

Present route

Today, the A1 motorway has absorbed most of EO1's original alignment, although the EO1 continues to run alongside most of the A1 for non-motorway traffic. However, there is a motorway-only gap west of

Lake Yliki Lake Yliki ( ''Yliki'', Ancient Greek: Ὑλίκη ''Hylike'', Latinised as ''Hylica'') is a large natural lake of Boeotia, central Greece. Situated 8 km north of Thebes at 78 m elevation, it has been an important source of drinking water for the ...

, requiring non-motorway traffic to detour via Thebes and Aliartos on the EO3. Additionally, the border crossing itself, north of Evzoni, is only open to motorway traffic.

History

The EO1, as created by Ministerial Decision G25871 in 1963, was similar to the old EO1, which existed by royal decree from 1955 to 1963: however, the old EO1 followed the route of the current EO8 to

Elefsina Elefsina () or Eleusis ( ; ) is a suburban city and municipality in Athens metropolitan area. It belongs to West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is located in the Thriasio Plain, at the northernmost end of the Saronic Gulf. North of Elefsina ...

and then the EO3 up to

, and the northernmost destination was

, instead of

and

.Royal Decree of 9 August 1955
(FEK A' 222/20.08.1955, pp. 1824–1825). Until 1975, the EO1 formed part of the old European route E92 from

to Lamia and from Alexandreia to Gefyra, the old E87 from Velestino to Larissa, and the old E5 from Gefyra to Evzonoi.

References

1 Roads in Attica Roads in Central Greece Roads in Thessaly Roads in Central Macedonia {{Greece-road-stub