Greece: Travel Guide: Thessalia: Magnesia

Magnesia (Greek: Μαγνησία, Magnisía), deriving from the 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 and the third busiest commercial port in Greece. Much of the population lives near the Pagasetic Gulf and in the eastern part.

The capital of Magnesia prefecture is the metropolitan city of Volos one of the most scenic and developed urban areas in Greece. Magnesia is located only half way between Athens and Thessaloniki. According to the most recent census carried out (2001), the population stands at 207,000. The capital of the prefecture is a metropolitan city consisting of three municipalities, the municipality of Volos with a population of around 95,000 (2001), the municipality of Nea Ionia with approximately 45,000 permanent and temporary citizens, and the municipality of Iolkos with around 3,500 citizens. Mount Pelion, the mountain of the Centaurs, generously offers natural beauty and spectacular views to its visitors. The peaks and the slopes of the mountain are decorated with small churches dedicated to saints and the Virgin Mary. In this quaint churches one can admire precious relics and post-Byzantine icons. The prefecture of Magnesia is as well proud of the Northern Sporades group of islands located at the East of mainland Magnesia. Skiathos island, famous tourist resort of the Mediterranean sea worldwide, along with the greenest island of the Mediterranean Skopelos, the ecological Alonissos with the national park of Mediterranean Monk Seals or Monachus monachus, and smaller islets comprises the summer paradise for over 2,000,000 million tourists every year

The climate in Magnesia lends itself to tourism. the average temperature is 17 degrees Celsius and the average rainfall about 540 millimetres per year. Heat waves and intense cold periods are rare. During the summer the temperature rises up to about 37 to 38 °C in August. The climate changes from place in the country; close to the Pagasetic Gulf conditions are a little humid, in Nea Ionia it is quite dry and in Velestino and Almyros is continental.