Volos !!!!!!Greece in a nutshell

Described as ‘one of life’s amplest generosities,’ this city in central
Greece encapsulates a blend of history, tradition and nature


Imagine a sprawling seaside city with
a green, snow-capped mountain in
the background, all reflected in the
tranquil waters of the Pagasitic Gulf.
At this time of year, this is the first
impression visitors have of Volos, 330
kilometers north of Athens.
The country’s third-largest port and
a city with considerable attractions,
the capital of the district of Magnesia
in central Greece is an excellent
base for exploring the famously wonderful
district of Pilio to the east but
is also a destination in itself. Novelist
Menelaos Lountemis was not wrong
when he described Volos as “one of
life’s amplest generosities.”
It was from this area, the location
of ancient Iolcos, that, according to
Greek mythology, Jason and the
Argonauts sailed off to the Black
Sea in their quest for the Golden
Fleece.
The roots of the modern city of Volos
are found in the ancient fort, built
in the middle of the 6th century,
where the Palaia neighborhood is today.
Its construction coincided with
the abandonment of the nearby ancient
city of Demetrias – founded by
Demetrius Poliorcetes, one of the successors
of Alexander the Great –
which had developed into a strong
building center of rowed vessels.
The fort protected a small port on
its southern side, which served the
exportation of produce from the
plain of Thessaly in the west and Pilio.
The port started gaining importance
in the middle of the 17th century
and large warehouses were
built around it. At the end of the 19th
century, the northern and southern
sides of the fort were knocked down
and the interior was inhabited.
After 1830, merchants began building
a new city on the northeastern
side of the castle, with rows of workshops,
shops and houses along the
coast. The new city, still under Ottoman
rule, became a flourishing
trade center – partly due to its proximity
to the then border of the fledgling
modern Greek state – and European
powers set up consulates there.
The addition of the region of Thessaly
to Greece in 1881 intensified the
pace of development, evident in the
growth of construction, with monuments
as well as modern and neoclassical
buildings characteristic of
the era. Accomplished architects
adorned the city with imposing
churches. The railway station, the
great warehouses, workshops and
newly established industries brought
new forms of industrial architecture
then found mainly in Central and

Western European cities. Labor activists
in Volos made the first attempts
in Greece to set up trade union
centers in the early 1900s.
Volos received a large number of
refugees after the disastrous Greek
military campaign in Asia Minor in
1922. This spelled a new, significant
change in the broader area’s social,
economic and cultural life, including
its gastronomic profile. Thanks to this
impact, the broader Volos area now
has more than 400 of the famous
“tsipouradika,” eateries serving a
wide variety of appetizers to accompany
shots of tsipouro, the popular
alcoholic spirit.
With a developed industrial base,
Volos was one of the main growth
centers of the country’s labor movement
during the economic recession
of the 1930s, when many workers
died in violent clashes with police.
A strong earthquake in 1955 destroyed
a large number of Volos’s neoclassical
buildings, which largely led
to its contemporary architectural
profile. Today it is a bustling city of
about 80,000 and more than 6,000 students,
often envied for its quality of
life which is afforded by its seaside
location, the relatively unhurried
pace of life and, particularly, proximity
to Mount Pilio with its many
wonderful attractions.