Almyros or Halmyros ( el, Αλμυρός, , , ) is a town and a municipality of the regional unit of Magnesia,

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It lies in the center of prosperous fertile plain known as 'Krokio Pedio', which is crossed by torrents. Almyros is an important agricultural and commercial center of Magnesia, and is also developing as a tourist center for the area. The main agricultural products are tomatoes, cotton, wheat, almonds, peanuts and pistachio nuts.

History

The history of Almyros begins with the ancient city of

Alos Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS), also called Daichi (a Japanese word meaning "land"), is a 3810 kg Japanese satellite launched in 2006. After five years of service, the satellite lost power and ceased communication with Earth, but ...

(about 10 km .2 misouth of Almyros), the ruins of which can still be visited. Alos was a very important and populous town, famous for its port and for its role in the

Persian Wars The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the ...

. After the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, because of pirate raids, they built the town in the place that it is today. Halmyros was the site of the decisive

Battle of Halmyros The Battle of Halmyros, known by earlier scholars as the Battle of the Cephissus or Battle of Orchomenos, was fought on 15 March 1311, between the forces of the Frankish Duchy of Athens and its vassals under Walter of Brienne against the merc ...

on 15 March 1311, where the

Catalan Company The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (Spanish: ''Compañía Catalana'', Catalan: ''Gran Companyia Catalana'', Latin: ''Exercitus francorum'', ''Societas exercitus catalanorum'', ''Societas cathalanorum'', ''Magna Societas Catalanorum' ...

shattered the assembled feudal armies of

Frankish Greece The ''Frankokratia'' ( el, Φραγκοκρατία, la, Francocratia, sometimes anglicized as Francocracy, "rule of the Franks"), also known as ''Latinokratia'' ( el, Λατινοκρατία, la, Latinocratia, "rule of the Latins") and ...

and conquered the

Duchy of Athens The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of th ...

. In 1838, the settlement was described as being "a Turkish town, situated on the western coast of the Pagasitic Gulf, half an hour's journey inland, on the Plain of Krokios, and consisting of some 300 dwellings. It is chiefly inhabited by Turks, with only a few Christian settlers, who cultivate the lands of the Turks residing there". 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) ...

ceded most of Thessaly in 1881, followed by development and repopulation by Greeks. In 1980 a catastrophic magnitude 6.5 earthquake destroyed most of the town.

Municipality

The municipality Almyros was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units: *Almyros * Anavra *

Pteleos Pteleos ( el, Πτελεός) is a village and a former municipality in the southern part of Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it has been part of the municipality of Almyros, of which it is a municipal unit. Th ...

Sourpi Sourpi ( el, Σούρπη) is a village and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. It is predominantly populated by Aromanians (Vlachs "Vlach" ( or ), also "Wallachian" (and many other variants), is a historical term and exony ...

The municipality has an area of 905.4 km² (349.6 sq mi), the municipal unit 473.940 km² (183 sq mi).

Subdivisions

The municipal unit of Almyros is divided into the following communities: Almyros,

Efxeinoupoli Efxeinoupoli (Greek: Ευξεινούπολη) is a small town in the Municipality of Almyros, Magnesia regional unit, Thessaly, Greece. Efxeinoupoli counts 2293 residents (2011). History Efxeinoupoli was created in 1906. The first residents ...

, Anthotopos, Kokkotoi, Kroki, Kofoi, Platanos, and Fylaki.

Province

The province of Almyros ( el, Επαρχία Αλμυρού) was one of the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Magnesia. It had the same territory as the present municipality. It was abolished in 2006.

Landmarks

*The Archaeological Museum of Almyros includes local artifacts and exhibits from the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

period, through Mycenean, Geometric, Classical, Hellenistic periods, and later Roman years. Opposite the museum is the old High School, the Gymnasium of Almyros, which is a classic monumental building from the beginning of the 20th century. The Museum and Gymnasium are the oldest buildings in the area. *The Kouri forest, about 2 km from the town of Almyros, at an elevation of 75 m (246 ft), encompasses 108 ha (266.9 acres) of lowland oak forest. The forest is flat (elevation gradient is less than 2%). Oaks belong to the species:

Quercus pubescens ''Quercus pubescens'', the downy oak or pubescent oak, is a species of white oak (genus ''Quercus'' sect. ''Quercus'') native to southern Europe and southwest Asia, from northern Spain (Pyrenees) east to the Crimea and the Caucasus. It is also fo ...

, Quercus aegilops, Quercus pedunculiflora. There are footpaths, as well as a miniature train for a brief tour through the woods and over small bridges. *The area is important to migratory birds, such as the mute swan, spoonbill,

glossy ibis The glossy ibis (''Plegadis falcinellus'') is a water bird in the order Pelecaniformes and the ibis and spoonbill family Threskiornithidae. The scientific name derives from Ancient Greek ''plegados'' and Latin, ''falcis'', both meaning "sickle" a ...

, and various herons. *South of the town are the moderately wooded Othrys mountains. 17 km (10.6 mi) from the town of Almyros but still in Almyros province, high in the Othrys mountains, is the 12th century Monastery of Panagia Xenia, with wall paintings, treasuries, and a library.The Sights of Almiros
Greek Travel Pages (commercial website). Retrieved 2007-07-12. *There are several sandy beaches in the municipality of Almyros.

Geography

Almyros is situated near the western end of the

Pagasetic Gulf The Pagasetic Gulf ( el, Παγασητικός κόλπος, Pagasitikós kólpos) is a rounded gulf (max. depth 102 metres) in the Magnesia regional unit (east central Greece) that is formed by the Mount Pelion peninsula. It is connected with ...

, 25 km (15.5 mi) southwest of

Volos Volos ( el, Βόλος ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the sixth most populous city of Greece, and the capital of the Magnesia regional unit ...

. Motorway 1 (Athens – Thessaloniki) passes east of the town Almyros.

Climate

Historical population

References

External links

Almyros Newspaper
TrekEarth. Site includes several dozen photographs in and around Almyros, including the Kouri forest, Monastery of Panagia Xenia, and Almyros beach.

"KIS, the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece" website. Includes history of Jewish communities in the Almyros region. {{Authority control Populated places in Magnesia (regional unit) Municipalities of Thessaly Provinces of Greece