Volos (; ) is a coastal

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of

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 ...

and south of

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 ...

. It is the capital of the Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos is also the only outlet to the sea from Thessaly, the country's largest agricultural region. With a population of 85,803 (2021), the city is an important industrial centre, and its port provides a bridge between Europe and Asia. Volos is the newest of the Greek port cities, with a large proportion of modern buildings erected following catastrophic earthquakes in 1955. It includes the municipal units of Volos, Nea Ionia and

Iolkos Iolcus (; also rendered ''Iolkos'' ; and Ἰαωλκός; ; ) is an ancient city, a modern village and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of Volos, of which it is a municipal un ...

, as well as smaller

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

communities. The economy of the city is based on manufacturing, trade, services and tourism. Home to 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 ...

, the city also offers facilities for conferences, exhibitions and major sporting, cultural and scientific events. Volos participated in the 2004 Olympic Games, and the city has since played host to other athletic events, such as the European Athletic Championships. Volos hosted the 7th

International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics The International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA) is an annual astronomy and astrophysics competition for high school students. It is one of the international science olympiads. The Olympiad was founded from a dissidence inside ...

from 27 July to 5 August 2013.

Location

Built at the innermost point of the Pagasetic Gulf and at the foot of Mount Pilio ( Pelion, the land of the

Centaurs A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...

). The city spreads in the plain on the foothills of Mount Pelion, bordering the town of Agria to the east and Nea Anchialos to the southwest. Volos' municipality includes both towns, along with many nearby villages, including Makrinitsa and Portaria. Volos is a major commercial port of mainland Greece in the Aegean sea (after Piraeus and Thessaloniki), with connection by ferry and hydrofoil to the nearby Sporades Islands, which include Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonissos. There are also connections to

Lemnos Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos (regional unit), Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean modern regions of Greece ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of , with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, eighth largest ...

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

and Skyros.

History

Antiquity

Volanakis Constantine epistrofi argonauton

Modern Volos is built on the area of the ancient cities of Demetrias, Pagasae and Iolcos. Demetrias was established in 293 BC by Demetrius Poliorcetes, King of Macedon. Iolcus, or Iolkos, was known in mythology as the homeland of the hero

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

, who boarded the ship Argo accompanied by the

Argonauts The Argonauts ( ; ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War (around 1300 BC) accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, ''Argo'', named after it ...

and sailed in quest of the Golden Fleece to

Colchis In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the ...

. To the west of Volos lie the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

settlements of Dimini, with a ruined

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

, walls, and two beehive tombs dating to between 4000 and 1200 BC, and Sesklo, with the remains of the oldest acropolis in Greece (6000 BC). The mound of Kastro/Palaia in western Volos is the site of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

settlement, including a Mycenaean palace complex where a couple of preserved

Linear B Linear B is a syllabary, syllabic script that was used for writing in Mycenaean Greek, the earliest Attested language, attested form of the Greek language. The script predates the Greek alphabet by several centuries, the earliest known examp ...

tablets have been found.

Byzantine era

Iolcus is still attested in the early Byzantine period but was eclipsed for most of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

by Demetrias. The Slavic tribe of the Belegezites settled in the area during the 7th century. Volos first appears again in 1333, as one of the cities captured by the Byzantine general John Monomachos in Thessaly, under the name "Golos" (Γόλος). The name is of Slavic origin, from ''golo'', ''golъ'', "barren". Another theory derives the name from Slavic ''golosh'', "seat of administration". Two alternative theories allude to a Greek origin through the words βολή (throw), as fishermen threw their nets into the sea from that area, and βώλος (piece of land) but the Greek scholar G. Hatzidakis considers them to be paretymologies at best. The modern form of the name is first attested in 1540. The walls of medieval Golos follow the traces of the fortifications of ancient Iolcus, and many remnants of the ancient city have been found in the medieval citadel. Along with the rest of Thessaly, Volos fell under Serbian rule in 1348, governed by Gregory Preljub. After Preljub's death Thessaly passed under the brief rule of Nikephoros II Orsini, followed by the Serbian rulers Simeon Uroš and John Uroš. After the latter's death in 1373, Thessaly returned under Byzantine rule for twenty years, until its conquest by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

under Sultan

Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...

Ottoman era

Ottoman rule was not yet firm. The first period of Ottoman control lasted from 1393 to 1397, followed by another , but it was not until 1423 that Volos was definitively incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman name of the city was . The Ottomans strengthened the town's fortifications against a possible Venetian attack, and installed not only a garrison, but also Muslim settlers from

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

. The local Christian population in turn moved to the slopes of Pelion. From this time on, Volos became the chief settlement on the Pagasetic Gulf. The city began to spread outside its walls in the late 16th/early 17th centuries, coinciding with a growth in commerce, helped by the city's famed twice-weekly local fair and the first works at the waterfront harbour. The fortress was captured by the Venetians under Francesco Morosini in 1665, during the Cretan War, but recovered and refortified by the Ottomans. In May 1821, at the beginning of the Greek Revolution, the Greek rebels of Mount Pelion tried to capture the fortress but failed. On 8 April 1827, the Greek fleet, under the command of the British philhellene Frank Abney Hastings, captured five Ottoman ships in the city's harbour and forced the local garrison to evacuate the fortress. The provisional government of Greece claimed Volos as part of Greek national territory, but the Treaty of Constantinople (1832), which established a Greek independent state, set its northern boundary along a line running south from Arta to Volos. Volos was incorporated into the Greek Kingdom in November 1881 with the rest of Thessaly.

Modern Volos

After its incorporation into the Greek Kingdom, the town had a population of only 4,900, but grew rapidly in the next four decades as merchants, businessmen, craftsmen and sailors gravitated toward it from the surrounding area. In the 1920s a large influx of refugees to the settlement took place, especially from

Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...

, but also from Pontus,

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

and Eastern

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

. In 1882, Andreas Syngros established the Privileged Bank of Epirothessaly, which the National Bank of Greece acquired in 1899 after its founder's death. Volos was occupied by Ottomans on 8 May 1897, during the Greco Turkish War. The city had a vibrant Jewish community in the early 20th century: from ≈500 in 1896, it rose to ≈2,000 in 1930, before falling drastically to 882 members in 1940, because of emigration to the great cities of Thessaloniki and

or abroad. During the

Axis occupation of Greece The occupation of Greece by the Axis Powers () began in April 1941 after Nazi Germany Battle of Greece, invaded the Kingdom of Greece in order to assist its ally, Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy, in their Greco-Italian War, ongoing war that w ...

, the prompt actions of the local rabbi, Moshe Pesach, and the Greek authorities saved about 700 of the local Jewish community from deportation to the Nazi death camps. After an aerial attack by Italian troops in November 1940 and another by the Germans in 1941, many of the city's inhabitants took refuge in the villages of Pelion. Abandoning Volos after Italy's capitulation in September 1943, the Italians left storerooms full of food, arms and ammunition. Large quantities of this material was transported with the Pelion railway to the mountain village Milies and under the supervision of ELAS loaded onto

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

s and taken to secure hideaways. When the Germans set off a column to Milies an officer and a soldier were killed by resistance fighters. In reprisal nearly the whole village was burnt down by German occupation troops on 4 October 1943. According to the official report of the municipality the Germans executed 25 men, and three inhabitants died in their houses from the flames. Volos is also well known for its assortment of mezedes and a clear alcoholic beverage known as '' tsipouro''. A street in a sister city, Rostov-on-Don, bears the name ''Улица Греческого Города Волос'' (Street of the Greek City of Volos), weaving through a mix of early 20th-century buildings with characteristic inner yards, tiered balconies and open iron stairs that lend the old Rostov its characteristic Mediterranean look. In September 2023 the city of Volos was flooded by massive rain.

Administration

The municipality Volos was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following nine former municipalities, that became municipal units: * Agria * Aisonia * Artemida * Iolcos * Makrinitsa * Nea Anchialos * Nea Ionia * Portaria * Volos The municipality has an area of 385.614 km², the municipal unit 108.6 km².

Province

The province of Volos () was one of the

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

of the Magnesia Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipalities Volos, Rigas Feraios, South Pelion and Zagora-Mouresi. It was abolished in 2006.

Geography

Volos is the administrative centre of the Magnesia regional unit. Many of the city domains are separated through natural barricades, such as rivers. Three main rivers/mountain torrents all rise from mount Pelion (with its peak at ), crossing the city to create a unique urban geography, before ending in the Pagasetic Gulf flowing west. The Anavros river, famous for

's pass, divides the Nea Demetriada district from the rest of the urban area. Krafsidonas is the major river passing through the city and constitutes the natural lung of the urbanized area of Volos, as well as the boundary between the major municipalities of the metropolitan city, the municipalities of Volos and Nea Ionia. Xirias (Ξηριάς), is the largest torrent in the metropolitan urban area of Volos and passes through the Nea Ionia municipal area.

Climate

Volos experiences a ''Csa'' hot-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, with neither particularly high nor extremely low temperatures throughout the year. Its climate is one of fairly low humidity, favorable for all kinds of activities. Measurable rainfall occurs on average around 89 days per year. Thunderstorms occur sparsely throughout the year, more often during the warmer months. Snow occurs more or less every year on a few occasions, though it usually doesn't cause disruption to daily life. The Pelion mountain, with its own microclimate, affects the city's weather, acting as a

rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from body of water, bodies of water (such as oceans and larg ...

to the north-easterly winds thus limiting the amount of precipitation the city receives in comparison to the eastern side of the mountain. Average temperature values, like in most regions, have slightly increased in more recent periods.

Architecture

Two of the most known churches of Volos, St Nicholas and St Constantine and Helen on the promenade, were designed by architect Aristotelis Zachos. Volos was once also characterised by a number of old mansions, the majority of which were destroyed after the earthquakes in 1955. Nowadays, only some of them have been saved, restored and have a new, mainly public, use. Σιδηροδρομικός σταθμός Βόλου 3601.jpg, The railway station, designed by Evaristo De Chirico. Καπναποθήκες Σπίρερ 3653.jpg, The old Spierer tobacco warehouse Archaeological Museum of Volos.jpg, Archaeological Museum of Volos The development of the new city coincided with the flourishing of

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

. Public buildings conformed to this style and private buildings belonging to prosperous merchants were particularly sophisticated. Typical examples include: * The 3-story Hotel de France, with its impressive decorative murals (1894, Iasonos and K. Kartali Street) * Old Tobacco Factory of Matsaggos (1890) * Yellow Tobacco Warehouse (1926) * The National Bank, formerly the Privileged Bank of Epirothessaly (1895) * The Bank of Athens (1903, today the library of

) * The Achillopouleion Hospital (1901) * The Archaeological Museum of Volos, Athanasakeio (1909) * The Agricultural Bank (1909, formerly the Kosmadopoulos Bank) * The Cine-theater Achilleion (1925) * The Aegli Hotel, (1927), designed by Kassiopoulos * The Building of the Air-force High officials Club near Agios Konstantinos Park, believed to have been designed by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

* The

Bank of Greece The Bank of Greece ( , ) is the national central bank for Greece within the Eurosystem. It was the Greek central bank from 1927 to 2000, issuing the drachma. Since 2014, it has also been Greece's national competent authority within European ...

building (1935) * Municipal conservatory of Volos * The old factory of Tsalapatas * Tsikrikis Mansion * Kitsos Makris' house (today Kitsos Makris Folklore Centre) * Volos City Hall * The Railway Station of Volos, designed by Evaristo De Chirico * The Averofeian Courthouse * The family houses of Kartalis, Glavanis, Kastemis, Saratsis * The Sarafopoulos Mansion (1927), today the Volos Club * The well-preserved Regas house and its singular decorative murals, today the Lyceum of Greek women

Districts

Education

The city of Volos consists of the administrative and academic centre of

, which was founded in 1984, and is the most important centre of education in central Greece. The faculties of Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences and Agricultural Sciences, with their twelve departments, are based in Volos, emphasising the academic, economic and cultural development of the city. The faculties are located in different areas of the city ; “Pedion Areos” Campus is used by the Departments of the School of Engineering, while the School of Humanities and Social Sciences is located in the centre of Volos. The School of Agricultural Sciences is based in a renovated building in Fytoko. In addition to Greek students, the city and the university attract many foreign students via Erasmus and other programmes. In addition, in the city, there are 56 kindergartens, 51 primary schools, 18 junior high schools and 13 senior high schools.

Economy

Volos is one of the most industrialized provincial cities of Greece, because of its strategic location between the largest population centers of the country (

– Thessaloníki) and its port. Industry is intensely specialized in steel production and manufacturing. Three major steel producers ( METKA, SIDENOR and Hellenic Steel Industry (Ελληνική Χαλυβουργία)) have production facilities in the industrial areas of Volos and nearby Almyros. AGET Heracles, a member of the Lafarge group, operates one of the largest cement facilities in the world (with capacity exceeding 7,000,000 tn) with its own private port, next to the city. Volos is also active in the research sector, hosting the Institute of Bio-Economy and Agri-Technology (iBO), one of the five Institutes of the Center for Research and Technology – Hellas (CERTH).

Port

The port lies upon the ancient Thessalian settlement of Iolkos. According to Greek mythology, this was where the hero Jason built his trireme, Argo, and along with his oarsmen set course for Colchis, bringing back and marrying priestess Medea. The new port was founded in 1893 and was the most significant element in the industrial development of the area. Today, Volos has the third-largest cargo port in Greece (after

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

and

), carrying agricultural and industrial products. In the past, it was home to a maritime link with

Tartus Tartus ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarṭūs''; known in the County of Tripoli as Tortosa and also transliterated from French language, French Tartous) is a major port city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest port city in Syria (af ...

, Syria. Ferries and flying dolphins operate daily, connecting Volos to the Magnesia islands of the Sporades, ( Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonissos). In addition, many cruise ships use the port of Volos as a destination. During the summers of 2015 and 2016, more than 100 cruises arrived in Volos, carrying more than 100,000 visitors. Volos 2w.jpg, View of the port. Ikarous Volos 20110707 b.jpg, Cargo ship at the harbour. Volos1.JPG, The promenade

International relations

The city of Volos has always had a major role in the financial, economic, commercial and administrative matters of the region of

and Central Greece, due to the strategic position of the city's port, unique between

and

International consulates

Several European countries have established consulates in Volos including: * Belgium * Denmark * France * Germany * Italy * Netherlands

Twin towns — sister cities

Volos is twinned with: *

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

, Chile *

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

, Georgia *

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, France * Pleven, Bulgaria * Rostov-on-Don, Russia *

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, ...

, Serbia *

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, Russia

Culture

The wider region of Volos is a place rich with history, finding the first signals of culture in the

period. In the villages of Sesklo and Dimini, the first traces of Neolithic culture in Europe have been discovered. Moreover, close by Volos, there are the ancient Dimitrias, a town built by Dimitrios Poliorkitis in 294-2 AC. Today, the ancient theatre of Dimitrias remains preserved. Also present are the archaeological areas of Goritsa hill, archaeological findings dating from the early Christian period in Nea Anchialos, and the wall of Volos's old castle, which is open to visitors. Volos consists of a city with diverse Greek trades, as its industrial development encouraged many people to move to the city. The city's industrial and financial evolution also gradually resulted in cultural and social evolution, too; in 1894, Volos acquired its Municipal Theater and later its Gymnastics Club. In 1908, Volos became home to the first Labour Union in Greece. After 1922, following the Asia Minor Catastrophe, Volos received a large number of people from the destroyed regions. This coexistence with the locals deeply influenced the culture of the city, leaving a mark still visible in the food, music, sports, entertainment and social life of the city today. In modern times, there are plentiful museums and galleries to be visited throughout the city, but also in the wider region. Above all, Volos forms one of the most attractive and tourist-friendly cities in Greece because of its physical setting, combining the Pagasetic Gulf with Mount Pelion. Volos was a candidate city for the

European Capital of Culture A European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union (EU) for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong pan-European dimension. Being a European Capital of Culture can ...

, 2021.

Museums and galleries

* Archaeological Museum of Volos * Volos Natural History Museum * Modern History Museum of Volos City * Giorgio de Chirico Art Centre * Thessaly Railway Museum, Railway Station of Volos * The Rooftile and Brickworks Museum N. & S. Tsalapatas, National Museum of Industrial History * Entomological Museum of Volos * Theofilos Museum, Anakasia (works of the artist Theofilos Hatzimikhail)

Cuisine

One of the main characteristics and most widely known specialities of Volos is its traditional drink, tsipouro, and the seafood that is served accompanying the drink. Local specialities include: * ''Boubari'' * ''Spetzofai'' * ''Melachrini'' (dessert) * Spoon sweets * Tsipouro (drink)

Sports

Volos, taking advantage of its physical setting by the sea, has a significant presence in Greek sporting history in the areas of rowing and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

. The city also has two covered and one open sporting swimming pools, with a long history in swimming and water polo. Additionally, Volos has clubs and facilities in several sports, including football, basketball, volleyball, tennis and horseriding. The most popular clubs, with significant contributions to the sporting and cultural history of the city and significant successes in football, are Olympiakos Volou and Niki Volou. The main clubs of Volos are shown below : With its sporting traditions, Volos was one of the five cities that played host to the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. Since 2004, Volos's facilities have hosted significant sports events, such as the 27th European Championship of Artistic Gymnastics in 2006, the FIBA European Youth Championship (2015), when Greece won the gold medal, and the Finals of

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

, in 2007 and 2017.

Transport

All land transport reaches Volos, while the International Airport of Central Greece in Nea Anchialos links the city to international destinations, and the Port of Volos provides links to the islands, mostly the Sporades, as well as to some destinations in Pilio.

Motorways

Volos is linked through Greece's E75 Highway Axis (most often known as PATHE) with Northern and Southern Greece. Beyond this, the Axis E65 will be the gateway to Western Greece and the port of Igoumenitsa, through the plains of inner

, when this part of the E65 link is completed.

Airport

The city of Volos, along with the rest of Central Greece, is linked to the rest of Greece and Europe by the Nea Anchialos National Airport. The airport has the second longest commercial runway in Greece after Eleftherios Venizelos. Volos is the first city in Europe to feature Seaplane Services through Argo Airways, which is based in Volos. The seaplanes connect Volos with Skiathos, Skopelos, Allonisos, Athens and Thessaloniki.

Railway

Today, the city is served by direct lines to the rest of Greece, and the railway complex houses facilities for train maintenance. Volos is directly linked with Athens once per day, with

twice per day, and with Larissa 15 times a day. In the past, Volos was served by railway lines of three different gauges, the metre gauge line of Thessaly Railways to Kalampaka, the standard gauge line to Larissa and the gauge line to Pelion. Remnants of triple gauge lines still exist near the station. Currently, the Pelion railway line operates for tourist reasons every Saturday, Sunday and public holiday from mid-April to the end of October. The train runs every day during July and August.

Notable people

Mythology

* Iason, mythological hero * Peleus, mythological hero *

Chiron In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs". Biography Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology for ...

, centaur

Modern

* Giorgio de Chirico, painter (1888–1978) *

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

, composer (1943–2022) * John Argyris, pioneer in engineering, Professor of

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

and University of Stuttgart (1913–2004) * Fotis Kouvelis, politician, leader of the Democratic Left * Dimitrios Trichopoulos, medical doctor, Professor of Harvard School of Public Health * Georgios Kartalis, politician (1908–1957) * Yorgos Foudoulis, musician and composer (1964) * Moshe Pesach, rabbi of Volos and Chief Rabbi of Greece * Lavrentis Mahairitsas, musician and songwriter (1956-2019) * Artemis Alexiadou, linguist (1969) * Apostolia Zoi, singer (1980) * Andromache (Mary) Mavroyeni Papanicolaou, (1890-1982), wife of George N. Papanicolaou, MD, PhD and first cytotechnologist

Athletes

* Vasileios Polymeros, rower, olympic medalist (1976) * Nikolaos Skiathitis, rower, olympic medalist (1981) * Olga Vasdeki, triple jumper (1973) * Spyridon Vasdekis, long jumper (1970) * Paraskevi Tsiamita, triple, long jumper (1972) * Nikos Boudouris, basketball player (1971) * Panagiotis Liadelis, basketball player (1974) * Athanasios Kostoulas, football player (1976) * Efthalia Koutroumanidou, beach volleyball player (1982) * Evanthia Makrygianni, synchronized swimmer (1986) *

Christos Volikakis Christos Volikakis (; born 25 March 1988, in Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit ...

, track cyclist (1988) * Adam Tzanetopoulos, football player (1995)

Footnotes

References

External links

*
Volos
The Official website of the Greek National Tourism Organisation

Port of Volos
{{Authority control Greek prefectural capitals Municipalities of Thessaly Mediterranean port cities and towns in Greece Provinces of Greece Port cities of the Aegean Sea Populated places in Magnesia (regional unit)