Due to its location on the passes leading from the Thessalian plain to Macedonia, the site of Elassona was always of some strategic importance.

In the Iliad it was mentioned in Homer's Catalogue of Ships, providing armed contingents that supported the Greek side in the Trojan War.

[2] Following the death of Stephen Gabrielopoulos in 1333, Elassona was one of the Thessalian towns (along with Stagoi, Trikala, Damasis, and Fanari) that for a short while fell under the rule of the Epirote ruler John II Orsini (r. 1323–1335).

[2] Under Andronikos III Palaiologos (r. 1328–1341), privileges were granted to the Olympiotissa monastery, and the town became the seat of an archbishopric, a status it retained into the Ottoman period.

[4] In the Ottoman tahrir defter of 1544, the town included Selanik Yörüks,[5] who had military obligations that required them to give five soldiers (eşküncü) and 20 assistants (yamaks) per household (ocak).

The Ottomans declared in February 1822 that if the rebellious reaya beg for pardon, their appeal were to be accepted, so long as they meet the specified conditions.

[9] In the 1881–1893 census of the Ottoman Empire, the kaza of Elassona had a total population of 26,855; consisting of 24,631 Greek Orthodox, 2,188 Muslims, 15 Jews, one Armenian, and 20 foreign citizens.