Larissa (/ləˈrɪsə/; Greek: Λάρισα, Lárisa, pronounced [ˈlarisa] ⓘ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece.

It is a principal agricultural centre and a national transport hub, linked by road and rail with the port of Volos, the cities of Thessaloniki and Athens.

Today, Larissa is an important commercial, transportation, educational, agricultural and industrial centre of Greece.

According to Greek mythology it is said that the city was founded by Acrisius, who was killed accidentally by his grandson, Perseus.

[4] The city of Larissa is mentioned in Book II of Iliad by Homer: "Hippothous led the tribes of Pelasgian spearsmen, who dwelt in fertile Larissa—Hippothous, and Pylaeus of the race of Mars, two sons of the Pelasgian Lethus, son of Teutamus.

The Larissa that features as a Trojan ally in the Iliad was likely to be located in the Troad, on the other side of the Aegean Sea.

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.

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.

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.

[13] 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.

As the chief town and military base of Ottoman Thessaly, Larissa was a predominantly Muslim city.

[14] In 1521 (Hijri 927) the town had 693 Muslim and 75 Christian households;[15] according to Gökbilgin (1956), it also included Albanian and Jewish communities.

[14] In the late 19th century, there was still a small village in the outskirts of the town inhabited by Africans from Sudan, a curious remnant of the forces collected by Ali Pasha.

[dubious – discuss] In 1881, the city, along with the rest of Thessaly, was incorporated into the Kingdom of Greece during the prime ministry of Alexandros Koumoundouros.

On 31 August 1881 a unit of the Greek Army headed by General Skarlatos Soutsos entered the city.

During the Axis Occupation of the country, the Jewish community of the city (dated back to second BC, see Romaniotes[citation needed]) suffered heavy losses.

Today Larissa is the fourth largest Greek city with many squares, taverns and cafes.

Le Quien cites twenty-nine bishops from the fourth to the 18th centuries;[18] the most famous is Jeremias II, who occupied the see until 733, when the Emperor Leo III the Isaurian transferred it from the jurisdiction of the Pope of Rome to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

[20] At the close of the 15th century, under the Ottoman domination, there were only ten suffragan sees,[21] which gradually grew less and finally disappeared.

In the area from the Frourio hill to the Central square is located the old part of the city where some of its main landmarks are.

There are a number of highways, including E75, E65, and the main railway from Athens to Thessaloniki (Salonika) crossing through Thessaly.

The region is directly linked to the rest of Europe through the International Airport of Central Greece located in Nea Anchialos a short distance from Larissa (about 60 km [37 mi]).

In manufacturing sector, Larissa is among others home to Biokarpet carpet company (whose owners were also major shareholders of AEL FC in the past) and Orient Bikes.