Volos is located at the heart of Greece, built on the foot of Pelion, and it constitutes the industrial centre of the Prefecture of Magnesia.

From the picturesque Portaria or Makrinitsa of Pelion, one can see the beautiful flat country where Volos is located as well as the Pagasitikos Gulf.

The history of Volos is very long. The area dates back to the ancient city of Magnesia Iolcos, built where nowadays Volos is located, and it was a mythological center, one of the most famous of ancient Greece. According to the Greek mythology, Iolcos was the port from which Jason set sail with his ship Argo in order to look for the Golden Fleece in Colchis. This story could be perceived as a symbolism of the genius of the old residents of Volos in trade.

In the village Dimini, 5km on the west of Volos, on a low hill, is located one of the most important settlements of the second Neolithic period in Thessaly and Greece in general. The culture of Dimini is considered to be one of the richest of Thessaly during the aforementioned period. During the years of Dimini’s flourish, metals were unknown. The material of which tools and weapons were made, were mainly stones and animals’ bonds.

From early on, the port of Volos was perceived as a very important aspect of the city’s life, since it was the starting point of the transportation of goods and people. Therefore, the commercial and transit centre was developed in the new settlement, offering from the very beginning to the city a vivid commercial and financial life, and to its residents the opportunity to work in the sectors of industry, trade, merchant navy.

Later on, to the area’s residents were added rich landowners and businessmen. During the last decades of the 19th. century, several industrial units were founded in the area, and the working class begun to be shaped.

Under these circumstances, a social division was shaped between the first residents of the area, who were mainly landowners, and the other residents, who were mainly tradesmen, merchants, and workers. In the active population of the cite at those times, the large number of Israelites, French and Italians should be included, who contributed significantly in shaping the social life of the city.

Furthermore, it is not a coincidence that the first step for the educational "renaissance" of the wider area was made in Volos many years ago.

Until 1833, Volos was occupied by Turks. But from early 20th. century, the financial and social transformation in the villages of Pelion, reflected among other things in the end of the era characterized by the growth of the small industries of Pelion, signaled the rapid development and urbanization of Volos.

The sea, the Pagasitikos Gulf, and Pelion, are the geographical points that determine the city’s development, the two former as a means of transportation and therefore financial and social growth and the latter as a cultural centre.

Pelion is a meeting point for merchants of central Europe, searching for raw materials and industrial products. Among which are: silk, textiles, leather, cooper and wooden utensils, and oil, figs, olives…

The railway and the port, in late 19th. century, contributed significantly in the financial prosperity of the area, reflected among other things in the construction of important public buildings.

The residential areas of the upper class at the east and the working class in the westΟι were extended after the arrival of refugees from Asia Minor. The war brought in Volos an important cultural heritage, since the refugees with their significant cultural background and their hard working attitude contributed to the societal development of Volos.

The suburb of refugees, called Nea Ionia, gave a fresh impetus to the city. With the extension of the working class, forty factories and many industrial units were built close to the railway and the port.

After the disastrous earthquakes of 1955, Volos almost lost its cultural identity, since the majority of the historic buildings of the city ere destroyed.

In 1969, begun the efforts of  the recovery of the local industry, which proved to be unsuccessful. In the 1980s, the Municipal authorities in collaboration with active groups of citizens, decided to initiate an effort of rescuing Volos’s industrial heritage. Towards this direction led also the urgent need to find places where administration and other services would be enacted.

The foundation of the University of Thessaly in 1984 sparked the area’s further development off, since its departments and services were housed in industrial blocks, located in significant spots of the city. Of particular significance was also the housing of the Municipal Centre for Historical Research and Documentation, in the building of the tobacco factory "Spirer".

Nowadays, the city of Volos constituted almost the only example of a Greek city that took advantage of its industrial heritage.

Volos is a city with all the modern amenities, and therefore has nothing to envy from other cities of Greece.

It is worth devoting time to discover the beauties of Volos, to acquaint in person the hospitality of the local people and to taste the local delicacies and the tsipouro in the traditional taverns of the area.

Many are also the visitors of Pelion and North Sporades, which are directly connected by sea to Volos all over the year, who choose to stay for a few days in Volos, and then continue their trip to their final destinations.