Pieria contains Mount Pierus, from which Hermes takes flight in order to visit Calypso,[2] and is the home of Orpheus,[3] the Muses,[4] and contains the Pierian Spring.

Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece and throne of the ancient Greek gods, is located in the southern part of Pieria.

The main beaches are Paralia, Olympiaki Akti, Korinos, Neoi Poroi, Methoni, Leptokarya, Platamonas, Skotina, Kalyvia Varikou, Limenas Litochorou (also known as Gritsa).

Severe winter weather is common in the central and western parts of Pieria, especially in the Pierian Mountains and on Mount Olympus.

On June 8, 2007, a low pressure weather system from Southern and Central Europe resulted in heavy rainfall that ravaged the prefecture and caused great damage in fruit and vegetable production.

[5][6][7] The region, known as Pieria or Pieris (Ancient Greek: Πιερία/Πιερίς) in Antiquity, took its name from the Pieres (Πίερες), a Thracian[8] tribe that was expelled[9] by the Macedonians in the 8th century BC[10] from their original seats, and driven to the North beyond the Strymon river and Mount Pangaeus,[9] where they formed a new settlement in Edonis.

The name Pieria has been connected to Homeric πῖαρ "fat", πίειραν ἄρουραν "fertile land" in a metaphorical sense.