Larissa

Antiquity

Silver drachma of Larissa (410-405 BC). Head of the nymph Larissa left, wearing pearl earring, her hair bound in sakkos / ΛΑΡΙΣΑ above, [IA] below (retrograde), bridled horse -symbol of the city- galloping right.

Classical Era

Larissa was a polis (city-state) during the Classical Era.^[12] 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 5th century BC, it chose local types for its coins. The obverse depicted the nymph of the local spring, Larissa, for whom the town was named; probably the choice was 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 is 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.

The first ancient theatre of the city. It was constructed inside the ancient city's centre during the reign of King Philip V of Macedonia, towards the end of the 3rd century BC. The theatre was in use for six centuries, until the end of the 3rd century AD

Ruins of the second ancient theatre

Larissa, 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, the local term for the strategos of the combined Thessalian forces. The principal rivals of the Aleuadae were the Scopadae of Crannon, the remains of which are about 14 miles south west.

Larissa was indeed the birthplace of Meno, who thus became, along with Xenophon and a few others, one of the generals leading several thousands Greeks from various places, in the ill-fated expedition of 401 (retold in Xenophon's Anabasis) meant to help Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II, king of Persia, overthrow his elder brother Artaxerxes II and take over the throne of Persia (Meno is featured in Plato's dialogue bearing his name, in which Socrates uses the example of "the way to Larissa" to help explain Meno the difference between true opinion and science (Meno, 97a–c) ; this "way to Larissa" might well be on the part of Socrates an attempt to call to Meno's mind a "way home", understood as the way toward one's true and "eternal" home reached only at death, that each man is supposed to seek in his life).^[13]

The constitution of the town was democratic, which explains why it sided with Athens in the Peloponnesian War. In the neighbourhood of Larissa was celebrated a festival which recalled the Roman Saturnalia, and at which the slaves were waited on by their masters. As the chief city of ancient Thessaly, Larissa was taken by the Thebans and later directly annexed by Philip II of Macedon in 344. It remained under Macedonian control afterwards, except for a brief period when Demetrius Poliorcetes captured it in 302 BC.

Middle Ages and Ottoman period

Gravure of Larissa c.1820

Inside the medieval fortress.

A street inside the fortress

Larissa was sacked by the Ostrogoths in the late 5th century, and rebuilt under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I.^[14]

In the 8th century, the city became the metropolis of the theme of Hellas.^[14] The city was captured in 986 by Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria, who carried off the relics of its patron saint, Saint Achilleios, to Prespa.^[14] It was again unsuccessfully besieged by the Italo-Normans under Bohemond I in 1082/3.^[14]

After the Fourth Crusade, the King of Thessalonica, Boniface of Montferrat, gave the city to Lombard barons, but they launched a rebellion in 1209 that had to be subdued by the Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders himself.^[14] The city was recovered by Epirus soon after.^[14]

It was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1386/87 and again in the 1390s, but only came under permanent Ottoman control in 1423, by Turahan Bey.^[15] Under Ottoman rule, the city was known as Yeni-şehir i-Fenari, "new citadel". As the chief town and military base of Ottoman Thessaly, Larissa was a predominantly Muslim city.^[15] During Ottoman rule the administration of the Metropolis of Larissa was transferred to nearby Trikala where it remained until 1734, when Metropolitan Iakovos II returned the see from Trikala to Larisa and established the present-day metropolis of Larissa and Tyrnavos.

The town was noted for its trade fair in the 17th and 18th centuries, while the seat of the pasha of Thessaly was also transferred there in 1770.^[15] The city remained in Ottoman hands until Thessaly became part of the independent Kingdom of Greece in 1881, except for a period where Ottoman forces re-occupied it during the Greco-Turkish War of 1897.^[15]

In the 19th century, there was a small village in the outskirts of town very unusually inhabited by Africans from 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.

Modern Greek era

Old postcard of the city, early 20th century

Larissa was the headquarters of Hursid Pasha during the Greek War of Independence. In 1881, the city, along with the rest of Thessaly, was incorporated into the Kingdom of Greece. A considerable portion of the Turkish population emigrated into the Ottoman Empire at that point. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, the city was the headquarters of Greek Crown Prince Constantine. The flight of the Greek army from here to Farsala took place on April 23, 1897. Turkish troops entered the city two days later. 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.

During the Axis Occupation of the country, the Jewish community of the city (dated back to 2nd BC, see Romaniotes) suffered heavy losses. Today in the city there is a Holocaust memorial and a synagogue.

Larissa Nowadays

Pineios river with the church of St. Achillios, patron saint of the city, in the background.

Today Larissa is the fourth largest Greek city with many squares, taverns and cafes. It has three public hospitals with one being military hospital. It hosts the Hellenic Air Force Headquarters and NATO Headquarters in Greece. It has a School of Medicine and the School of Biochemistry – Biotechnology the third largest in the country Institute of Technology. It occupies the first place among Greek cities into green coverage rate per square-metre urban space. It also has two public libraries and three museums.^[16]

Districts

The municipal unit of Larissa is divided into four city-districts or municipal communities (29 city areas) plus 2 suburban communities (Amphithea and Koulourion). The municipality includes also the Community of Terpsithèa (with the suburban community of Argyssa).

From 1 January 2011, in accordance with the Kallikratis Plan (new administrative division of Greece), the new municipality of Larissa includes also the former municipalities of Giannouli and Koilada.

Province

The province of Larissa (Greek: Επαρχία Λάρισας) was one of the provinces of the Larissa Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipalities Larissa (except the municipal unit Giannouli) and Tempi (except the municipal units Gonnoi and Kato Olympos).^[22] It was abolished in 2006.

Archaeological sites

• Ancient Theatre A'
• Fortress Hill
• Ancient Theatre B'
• Hippokrates Monument

Cuisine

Local specialities:

• Batzina
• Kelaidi (Κελαηδί)
• Kreatopita
• Loukanikopita
• Melintzanopita
• Tyropita

Museums

• Diachronic Museum of Larissa
• Municipal Gallery of Larissa – G.I. Katsigras Museum
• Historical & Folklore Museum of Larissa
• Veterinary Military Museum of Larissa
• Museum of Folklore Society of Larissa

Media

• TV: Thessalian Radio Television (TRT), Astra TV
• Press: Eleftheria (newspaper)

Ancient

• Achilles (mythology)
• Achillius of Larissa (270–330), patron saint of the city
• Hippokrates of Kos (460 BC–370 BC), physician, worked and died in Larissa
• Larissa, mythological nymph from Thessaly
• Medius (4th century BC), friend of Alexander the Great
• Philinna (4th century BC), dancer, mother of Philip III Arrhidaeus
• Philo (1st century BC), philosopher

Modern

• Giorgakis Olympios (1772–1821), armatolos
• Konstantinos Koumas (1777-1836), scholar
• Theoklitos Farmakidis (1784–1860), scholar, figure of the Modern Greek Enlightenment
• Moshe Pesach (1869-1955), rabbi
• Achilleas Tzartzanos (1873–1946), linguist, philologist
• George Seremetis (1879–1950), lawyer, mayor of Thessaloniki
• Sotiris Skipis (1881–1952), poet
• Agenor Asteriades (1898-1977), painter
• M. Karagatsis (1908–1960), novelist, journalist
• Eleni Zafeiriou (1916–2004), actress
• Antonis Vratsanos (1919–2008), resistance figure during WWII
• Takis Tloupas (1920–2003), photographer
• Kostas Gousgounis (1931–), porn actor
• Athena Tacha (1936–), artist
• Giannis Totsikas (1936-2018), actor
• Georgios Souflias (1941–), politician
• Petros Efthimiou (1950–), politician
• Konstantinos Tzanakoulis (1950–), politician
• Lakis Lazopoulos (1956–), actor, comedian, script author & director
• Thanasis Papakonstantinou (1959–), poet, songwriter, singer, musician
• Kosmas Stratos (1959–), 100m sprinter
• Georgios Mitsibonas (1962–1997), footballer
• Vassilis Karapialis (1965–), footballer
• Ekaterini Voggoli (1970–), discus thrower
• Dimitris Andrikopoulos (1971–), composer
• Alexis Georgoulis (1974–), actor
• Yannis Goumas (1975–), footballer
• Dimosthenis Dikoudis (1977–), basketball player
• Nestoras Kommatos (1977–), basketball player
• Fani Halkia (1979–), hurdler
• Dimitris Spanoulis (1979–), basketball player
• Theofanis Gekas (1980–), footballer
• Vangelis Moras (1981–), footballer
• Vassilis Spanoulis (1982–), basketball player
• Giorgos Tsiaras (1982–), basketball player
• Kostas Chalkias (1974–), footballer
• Konstantinos Nebegleras (1975-), footballer
• Thanasis Deligiannis (1983–), composer
• Apostolis Totsikas (1983–), actor
• Vasilios Koutsianikoulis (1988–), footballer

Twin towns — sister cities

Larissa is twinned with: