Volos (/ˈvɒlɒs/;Greek:Βόλος[ˈvolos]) is a coastalportcity inThessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about 330 kilometres (205 miles) north ofAthens and 220 kilometres (137 miles) south ofThessaloniki. It is the capital of theMagnesia 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),[2] 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 themunicipal units of Volos,Nea Ionia andIolkos, as well as smallersuburban communities. The economy of the city is based on manufacturing, trade, services and tourism. Home to theUniversity of Thessaly, the city also offers facilities for conferences, exhibitions and major sporting, cultural and scientific events. Volos participated in the2004 Olympic Games, and the city has since played host to other athletic events, such as theEuropean Athletic Championships. Volos hosted the 7thInternational Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics from 27 July to 5 August 2013.[3]
Built at the innermost point of thePagasetic Gulf and at the foot of Mount Pilio (Pelion, the land of theCentaurs). The city spreads in the plain on the foothills of Mount Pelion, bordering the town ofAgria to the east andNea Anchialos to the southwest. Volos's municipality includes both towns, along with many nearby villages, includingMakrinitsa andPortaria.
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 nearbySporades Islands, which includeSkiathos,Skopelos andAlonissos. There are also connections toLemnos,Lesbos,Chios andSkyros.
Modern Volos is built on the area of the ancient cities ofDemetrias,Pagasae andIolcos. Demetrias was established in 293 BC byDemetrius Poliorcetes, King ofMacedon.[4]Iolcus, or Iolkos, was known in mythology as the homeland of the heroJason, who boarded the shipArgo accompanied by theArgonauts and sailed in quest of theGolden Fleece toColchis.[5] To the west of Volos lie theNeolithic settlements ofDimini, with a ruinedacropolis, walls, and two beehive tombs dating to between 4000 and 1200 BC, andSesklo, with the remains of the oldest acropolis in Greece (6000 BC). The mound of Kastro/Palaia in western Volos is the site of aBronze Age settlement, including aMycenaean palace complex where a couple of preservedLinear B tablets have been found.[6][7]
Iolcus is still attested in the early Byzantine period but was eclipsed for most of theMiddle Ages by Demetrias.[8] TheSlavic tribe of theBelegezites settled in the area during the 7th century.[9]
Volos first appears again in 1333, as one of the cities captured by the Byzantine generalJohn Monomachos in Thessaly, under the name "Golos" (Γόλος).[8] The name is of Slavic origin, fromgolo,golъ, "barren".[10][11] Another theory derives the name from Slavicgolosh, "seat of administration".[12] 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 beparetymologies at best.[10] The modern form of the name is first attested in 1540.[11]
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.[13]
Along with the rest of Thessaly, Volos fell underSerbian rule in 1348, governed byGregory Preljub.[14] After Preljub's death Thessaly passed under the brief rule ofNikephoros II Orsini, followed by the Serbian rulersSimeon Uroš andJohn Uroš. After the latter's death in 1373, Thessaly returned under Byzantine rule for twenty years, until its conquest by theOttoman Empire under SultanBayezid I.[15]
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.[12] The fortress was captured by the Venetians underFrancesco Morosini in 1665, during theCretan War, but recovered and refortified by the Ottomans.[12]
In May 1821, at the beginning of theGreek Revolution, the Greek rebels of Mount Pelion tried to capture the fortress but failed.[12] On 8 April 1827, the Greek fleet, under the command of the BritishphilhelleneFrank Abney Hastings, captured five Ottoman ships in the city's harbour and forced the local garrison to evacuate the fortress.[12] The provisional government of Greece claimed Volos as part of Greek national territory, but theTreaty of Constantinople (1832), which established a Greek independent state, set its northern boundary along a line running south fromArta to Volos.[16] Volos wasincorporated into the Greek Kingdom in November 1881 with the rest of Thessaly.[12]
After its incorporation into theGreek 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 ofrefugees to the settlement took place, especially fromIonia, but also fromPontus,Cappadocia andEastern Thrace. In 1882,Andreas Syngros established thePrivileged Bank of Epirothessaly, which theNational Bank of Greece acquired in 1899 after its founder's death. Volos was occupied by Ottomans on 8 May 1897, during theGreco Turkish War.[17]
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 andAthens or abroad. During theAxis occupation of Greece, 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.[18]
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 ofPelion. 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 thePelion railway to the mountain villageMilies and under the supervision ofELAS loaded ontomules 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.[19]
Volos is also well known for its assortment of mezedes and a clear alcoholic beverage known astsipouro.
A street in a sister city,Rostov-on-Don, bears the nameУлица 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.[20]
The municipality Volos was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following nine former municipalities, that became municipal units:[21]
The province of Volos (Greek:Επαρχία Βόλου) was one of theprovinces of the Magnesia Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipalities Volos,Rigas Feraios,South Pelion andZagora-Mouresi.[23] It was abolished in 2006.
Volos panorama fromPelion mountain.Upper part of the town (Ano Volos)Climate graph of Volos.
Volos is the administrative centre of theMagnesia regional unit. Many of the city domains are separated through natural barricades, such as rivers.
Three main rivers/mountain torrents all rise from mountPelion (with its peak at 1,610 metres (5,280 feet)), crossing the city to create a unique urban geography, before ending in thePagasetic Gulf flowing west. TheAnavros river, famous forJason'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 andNea Ionia. Xirias (Ξηριάς), is the largest torrent in the metropolitan urban area of Volos and passes through the Nea Ionia municipal area.
Volos experiences acold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classificationBSk), 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. ThePelion mountain, with its own microclimate, affects the city's weather, acting as arain shadow to the north-easterly winds thus limiting the amount of precipitation the city receives in comparison to the eastern side of the mountain.[24] Average temperature values, like in most regions, have slightly increased in more recent periods.
Two of the most known churches of Volos, St Nicholas and St Constantine and Helen on the promenade, were designed by architectAristotelis Zachos.[26] 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.
The railway station, designed by Evaristo De Chirico.
The old Spierer tobacco warehouse
Archaeological Museum of Volos
Church of Saints Constantine and Helen
The development of the new city coincided with the flourishing ofneoclassicism. 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)
The city of Volos consists of the administrative and academic centre ofUniversity of Thessaly, 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.[citation needed]
The rooftile and brickworks museum of the old Tsalapatas factoryTobacco warehouse (1926)Old stores of Volos, Paliá quarter
Volos is one of the most industrialized provincial cities of Greece, because of its strategic location between the largest population centers of the country (Athens –Thessaloníki) and its port. Industry is intensely specialized in steel production and manufacturing. Three major steel producers (METKA,SIDENOR andHellenic Steel Industry (Ελληνική Χαλυβουργία)) have production facilities in the industrial areas of Volos and nearbyAlmyros.AGET Heracles, a member of theLafarge group, operates one of the largest cement facilities in the world (with capacity exceeding 7,000,000 tn[27]) with its own private port, next to the city. Volos is also active in the research sector, hosting the Institute ofBio-Economy and Agri-Technology (iBO), one of the five Institutes of the Center for Research and Technology – Hellas (CERTH).[28]
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 (afterPiraeus andThessaloniki), carrying agricultural and industrial products. In the past, it was home to a maritime link withTartus, Syria.
Ferries and flying dolphins operate daily, connecting Volos to the Magnesia islands of theSporades, (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.[29]
The city of Volos has always had a major role in the financial, economic, commercial and administrative matters of the region ofThessaly andCentral Greece, due to the strategic position of the city's port, unique betweenAthens andThessaloniki.
The wider region of Volos is a place rich with history, finding the first signals of culture in theNeolithic period. In the villages ofSesklo andDimini, 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 ancienttheatre of Dimitrias remains preserved. Also present are the archaeological areas of Goritsa hill, archaeological findings dating from the early Christian period inNea 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 theAsia 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 thePagasetic Gulf with MountPelion.
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.
Volos, taking advantage of its physical setting by the sea, has a significant presence in Greek sporting history in the areas ofrowing andsailing. 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, areOlympiacos Volos andNiki Volos. The main clubs of Volos are shown below :
With its sporting traditions, Volos was one of the five cities that played host to the2004 Summer Olympics.
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 ofGreek Football Cup, in 2007 and 2017.
Volos is linked through Greece'sE75 Highway Axis (most often known asPATHE) with Northern and Southern Greece. Beyond this, the Axis E65 will be the gateway to Western Greece and the port ofIgoumenitsa, through the plains of innerThessaly, when this part of the E65 link is completed.
The city of Volos, along with the rest of Central Greece, is linked to the rest of Greece and Europe by theNea Anchialos National Airport. The airport has the second longest commercial runway in Greece afterEleftherios Venizelos.
Volos is the first city in Europe to feature Seaplane Services[citation needed] through Argo Airways, which is based in Volos. The seaplanes connect Volos with Skiathos, Skopelos, Allonisos, Athens and Thessaloniki.
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, withThessaloniki twice per day, and withLarissa 15 times a day. In the past, Volos was served by railway lines of three different gauges, themetre gauge line ofThessaly Railways toKalampaka, the standard gauge line to Larissa and the600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) gauge line toPelion. Remnants oftriple 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.
^Soulis, George C. (1984).The Serbs and Byzantium during the reign of Emperor Stephen Dušan (1331–1355) and his successors.Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 108–110.ISBN0-88402-137-8.
^Shmuel Spector; Geoffrey Wigoder, eds. (2001)."Volos".The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust, Volume 3: Seredina-Buda–Z. New York: New York University Press. pp. 1411–1412.ISBN9780814793787.
^Helen F. Stamati: Milies: A Village on Mount Pelion, Athens 1989, p. 54–59.
^"Greece: Skiathos and Volos hit by flash floods".bbc.com. Retrieved6 September 2023.The coastal port city of Volos has seen the same mount of water falling in 24 hours that it usually gets for the whole of autumn - according to local experts.
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