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Larissa

Larissa, the capital city of Thessalia, stands at the heart of the Thessalian plain, is a major commercial, industrial and marketing center, breaking the dull landscape of wheat and cornfields. The few old streets hint at its recent past as a Turkish provincial capital. A large road and rail junction, the town has efficient connections with most places you'd want to reach, such as Volos to the east, Trikala and Kalambaka to the west, and Lamia to the south.

Museums and Art Galleries are a common feature and worth visiting are the mediaeval fortress, Alcazar Park and the ancient theatre. Not to be missed, are the Archaeological Museum with its rich exhibits of Paleolithic and archaic artifacts and the Art Gallery, with its admirable collection of fine paintings. The Pinios River flowing through the town and the old mansions with their spacious courtyards and luxuriant gardens give Larissa a charm of its own. Other places worth seeing in the Prefecture of Larissa are the enchanting emerald valley of Agia, idyllic Stomio with its bottomless springs and Agiokambos and its enormous beach. The latter two localities are ideal summer holiday spots.

The museum is housed in an Islamic mosque constructed in the 19th century. It contains collections of Palaeolithic fossils, Neolithic vases, figurines, tools and other items, Bronze Age and Geometric vases, Archaic funerary finds from Agios Georghios at Larissa, burial finds of the Classical period, the prehistoric menhir from Souphli Magoula, architectural parts and sculptures spanning the period from Archaic to Byzantine times, Hellenistic and Roman sculptures, funerary, votive and inscribed stelae spanning the period from Archaic to Roman times, and a Roman mosaic from Kalo Nero at Larissa.

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