Farsala

Farsala (), known in Antiquity as Φάρσαλος, Pharsalos or Pharsalus, is a city in southern Thessaly, in Greece. Farsala is located in the southern part of Larissa peripheral unit, and is one of its largest towns. The city is linked with GR-3, the old highway linking Larissa and Lamia and is also accessed by GR-30 linking Karditsa and Volos. The GR-1/E65 and E75 superhighway runs to the east of the city. Several mountain ranges lie to the South, while the Thessalian Plain lies to the North, some hills to the East and the Farsalian Fields in the central part. Farsala is located SE of Karditsa, S of Larissa, W of Volos and N of Lamia.

The area is an economic and agricultural centre of the province. The population are mainly rural especially with cotton production and breeding, one of the many are in local production units in agricultural production as well as clothing and textile industries. Farsala is famous for its distinctive halva.

History

Ancient Pharsalos

The Homeric Phthia of the Mycenaean period, capital of the Kingdom of the Myrmidons and of Peleus, father of Achilles, has sometimes been identified with the later city of Farsalos (Greek: Φάρσαλος), now Pharsala. A Cyclopean Wall which protected a city still exists today near modern Pharsala, as does a vaulted tomb from that period.

The Pharsalos of the historic era was built over a hillside of the Narthacius mountains at an elevation of some 160 m, where modern Pharsala stands. It was one of the main...
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