Thessaly - Transport, Administration

pop (2000e) 764 000; area 14 037 km²/5418 sq mi. Fertile agricultural region of E Greece, bounded W by the Pindus Mts, and E by the Aegean Sea; annexed by Greece, 1881; capital, Larisa; famed in ancient times for its horses; major cereal region in Greece.

Thessaly Periphery Περιφέρεια Θεσσαλίας
Capital	Larissa
Prefectures	Karditsa Larissa Magnesia Trikala
Population	760,714 (2005)
Area	14,037 km²
Population density	54/km²
Website	www.thessalia.gr

Thessaly (Greek: Θεσσαλία Thessalía;

Transport

There are a number of highways and the main railway from Athens to Thessaloniki (Salonika) crosses Thessaly.

Thessaly was home to an extensive Neolithic culture around 2500 BC. Later, in ancient Greek times, the lowlands of Thessaly became the home of baronial families, such as the Aleuads of Larissa or the Scopads of Crannon. In 148 BC the Romans formally incorporated Thessaly into the province of Macedonia, but in AD 300 Thessaly was made a separate province with its capital at Larissa. In the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade Thessaly fell under the control of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, but in 1215 it was conquered by Theodore Komnenos Doukas and became one of the independent territories governed by that family.

Administration

Thessaly is divided into 4 prefectures:

Karditsa Larissa Magnesia Trikala v • d • e Peripheries of Greece

Attica • Central Greece • Central Macedonia • Crete • East Macedonia and Thrace • Epirus • Ionian Islands • North Aegean • Peloponnese • South Aegean • Thessaly • West Greece • West Macedonia • Mount Athos (autonomous region)