Magnesia

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This article is about the region of Greece. For other meanings, see Magnesia (disambiguation)

Magnesia Prefecture Νομός Μαγνησίας

Periphery	Thessaly
Capital	Volos
Population	210,330 (2005)Ranked 10th
Area	2,636 km² Ranked 21st
Population density	79.8/km²Ranked 12th
Number of provinces	3
Number of municipalities	22
Number of communities	4
Postal codes	37x xx - 38x xx
Area codes	242x0
Licence plate code	ΒΟ
ISO 3166-2 code	GR-43
Website	www.magnesia.gr

Magnesia (Greek: Μαγνησία Magnisia; see also List of traditional Greek place names), deriving from the Macedonian tribe name Magnetes, is the name of the southeastern area of Thessaly in central Greece. The modern prefecture was created in 1947 out of the Larissa prefecture. About 70% of the population live in the Greater Volos area which is the second-largest city in Thessaly. Much of the population lives near the Pagasetic Gulf and in the eastern part.

Magnesia is homeland of the mythical heroes Jason, Peleus and his son Achilles. The word magnet comes from the Greek "magnítis líthos" (μαγνήτης λίθος), which means "magnesian stone". The name for the element Magnesium is also derived from this region.

The modern Magnesian capital is the city of Volos, and the homonymous prefecture includes the Almyros plain, Nea Anchialos archaeological excavations, the Pagasetic Gulf, the Mount Pelion peninsula and the Sporades islands.

The prefecture was to be rocked by floods in the early-20th century, the recent one was on October 10, 2006, as the low pressure system tackled the prefecture making it one of the prefecture's worst recorded flood history, it destroyed crops and groves wrecking nearly 100,000 homes. The city of Volos was flooded which made some basements to be flooded. The most damage was that the rail bridge collapsed as the middle stony barge was ruined by a part of the soil to be turned into mud which was caused by overflowing waters. Several mudslides were reported.

1 Geography
2 Municipalities and communities
3 Archaeological sites
4 Transportation
- 4.1 History
5 Persons
6 Hotels
7 External links

[edit] Geography

It is bounded by Phthiotis region in the southewst, the Larissa in the west and north and the Aegean Sea in the east. The lagoon of Lake Voiviis or Karla is to the north and is surrounded with farmlands to the west and mountains to the east. It is one of the prefectures that is bounded with only two prefectures.

Most of the settlements are in the western part of the Sporades, southeastern, central, northwestern and along within the Pagasetic Gulf.

[edit] Municipalities and communities

Municipality	YPES code	Seat (if different)	Postal code	Area code
Afetes	3708	Neochori	370 10	24230-
Agria	3701		373 00	24280-
Aisonia	3702	Dimini	385 00	24210
Almyros	3703		371 00	24220-
Alonnisos	3704		370 05	24240-
Argalasti	3706		370 06	24230-
Artemida	3707	Ano Lechonia	385 00	24280-
Feres	3726	Velestino	375 00	24250-
Iolkos	3711		385 00	24210-
Karla	3712	Stefanovikeio	375 00	24250-
Milies	3715		370 10	24230-
Mouresi	3716	Tsagkarada	370 12	24260-
Nea Anchialos	3717		374 00	24280-
Nea Ionia	3718		383 & 384	24210
Portaria	3719		370 11	24280-
Pteleos	3720		370 07	24220-
Sipiada	3721	Lafkos	370 06	24230-
Skiathos	3722		370 03	24240-
Skopelos	3723		370 03	24240-
Sourpi	3724		370 08	24220-
Volos	3709		380-382	24210
Zagora	3710		370 01	24260-
Community	YPES code	Seat (if different)	Postal code	Area code
Anavra	3705		350 10	22320-9
Keramidi	3713		385 00	24280-7
Makrinitsa	3714		370 11	24280-99
Trikeri	3725		370 09	24230-91

[edit] Archaeological sites

[edit] Transportation

[edit] History

The first paved road were in the 20th century as a part of the city streets began to pave. The prefecture was to be linked with the railway in the late-19th century. In 1964, the GR-1 superhighway was opened to traffic and also additional roads were to be paved, the secondary ones were paved in the 1960s and the tertiary ones were paved in the late-20th century.