Larissa

Larissa is the capital of Thessaly and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Greece, settled since prehistoric times on the banks of the Pineios river at the centre of the great Thessalian plain. It is a large, energetic city rather than a museum piece, with wide pedestrian streets, a lively cafe culture and a student population that keeps it awake late into the night.

Its great treasure is the First Ancient Theatre, a Hellenistic theatre begun in the early 3rd century BC on the southern slope of Frourio Hill. For centuries it lay buried beneath the modern town, and its careful excavation, right in the city centre, is one of the largest archaeological projects in Greece. A short walk away, a smaller second theatre and the Frourio hill itself, crowned by a Byzantine and Ottoman fortress, add further layers of history.

Beyond the ruins, Larissa is a place to enjoy everyday Greek city life. The Diachronic Museum of Larissa gathers finds spanning the region's long history, from Palaeolithic tools to Byzantine art. The riverside along the Pineios has been turned into pleasant walking and cycling paths, and the central square, Plateia Tachydromeiou, buzzes with tables from morning coffee to late supper.

Larissa is also a natural hub for touring the region. It sits squarely on the Athens to Thessaloniki motorway and railway, making it one of the easiest cities in central Greece to reach, and it is well placed for day trips to Meteora, Mount Olympus and the coast around the Vale of Tempe. Few travellers come to Thessaly solely for Larissa, but as a base or an overnight stopover it offers genuine urban character, a strong local food scene and a striking reminder, in the great theatre at its very core, of just how old this Thessalian crossroads city really is.