Elassona is a town in the Prefecture of Larissa and is built
amphitheatrically at the foot of a series of hills, on the south
side of Olympus. Elassona is the seat of the Municipality of
Elassona, which includes 52 settlements with a total permanent
population of 37,264 inhabitants according to the 2001 census.
It is the seat of the Holy Metropolis of Elassona, in whose
territory, apart from the Municipality of Elassona, the Deskati of
the Prefecture of Grevena is included. (Until 1964 the area of
Deskati belonged to the province of Elassona in the prefecture of
Larissa). Also, in the same year (1964), the community of Elassona
was promoted to a municipality. The patron saint of Elassona is
Agios Arsenios, whose memory is solemnly honored on the 8th of May.
One of the most important events in the city is "Eleftheria",
where the liberation of Elassona by the Turks is celebrated, on
October 6, 1912. The most famous event, due to its nationwide
promotion, is the Feta Festival organized by the Municipality of
Elassona in cooperation with other bodies around the end of
September every two years.
Until 15-3-2006, Tsaritsani belonged to the Municipality of Elassona
and was its ninth Local Department. With Law 3448 / 15-3-2006,
Tsaritsani was detached from the Municipality of Elassona and is a
separate community, the Community of Tsaritsani, something that the
local population strongly wanted since the establishment of the
Kapodistrian Municipalities.
From 1/1/2011 the entire former
Province of Elassona was transformed into a single Municipality,
thus forming one of the largest Municipalities in the country.
Elassona is crossed by the river Elassonitis (or Elassonitikos), which contributes to Titarisios and flows into Pinios, the largest river in Thessaly. The river divides the city into two parts, the old city which is built at the foot of the hill of Olympiotissa and is called Varosi, and the new city that stretches on the right bank of the river. The two parts of the city are connected by three bridges and an old arched bridge, which is an attraction of Elassona. Finally, nearby is the lake of Kefalovrysso.
Elassona is a transport hub providing access from central to northern Greece, connecting by road the prefectures of Larissa, Pieria, Kozani and Grevena. It is 38 km from Larissa, 70 km from Katerini, 78 km from Kozani and 22 km from Tyrnavos.
The Monastery of Panagia Olympiotissa is
the most recognizable point of the city, but at the same time the
most important monument of the wider area. The katholikon of the
monastery is a building of the 13th century.
The monastery is
built on a hill at the site of the Acropolis of the ancient city of
Olossa.
Sights, apart from the Holy Monastery, are the old
arched bridge at the foot of the hill of Olympiotissa, the exhibits
of the Museum of Natural History and the Museum of National
Resistance, as well as the route on the forest road from
Olympiotissa to the Forest.
The data contained in the following table refer to the Municipal community of Elassona with an area of 102.5 sq.km. and includes the settlements of Elassona, Agioneri, Aetorrachi and Mikro Eleftherochori. From 1919 to 1964 it was the community of Elassonos when it was recognized as a municipality. The administrative boundaries of the Municipality of Elassonos were expanded with the plans of Kapodistrias (1998) and Kallikratis (2010). The 1940-1981 censuses refer to the actual population and the following to the permanent one.