Volos is a necessary stop on your way to Pelion which is situated just next to it. From Volos you can sea the Pelion villages perched on the pine-covered mountains. It is an agreeable spectacle especially by night when only their lights can be seen.
The town of Volos is also interesting from a cultural point of view. There is the Volos Archaeological Museum which contains finds from the surrounding areas that ere dated from the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period. The Municipal Gallery also is of interest. It is housed in the Town Hall and exhibits a collection of paintings and sculptures by Modern Greek artists.
Getting To and About Volos
All land transport reaches Volos, while the International Airport of Central Greece in Nea Anchialos links the city to international destinations.
Ferries
The Port of Volos provides links to the islands, mostly the Sporades, as well as to some destinations in Pilio.
Motorways
Volos is linked through Greece's E75 Highway Axis (most often known as PATHE) with Northern and Southern Greece. Beyond this, the Axis E65 will be the gateway to Western Greece and the port of Igoumenitsa, through the plains of inner Thessaly; this part of the E65 motorway will be completed by 2012.
Airport
The city of Volos, along with the rest of Central Greece, is linked to the rest of Greece and Europe by the Nea Anchialos National Airport. The airport represents the biggest air lane in Greece after Eleftherios Venizelos, with a capacity of 800 passengers per hour and facilities for almost 10 aircraft. Volos is the first city in Europe to feature Seaplane Services through Argo Airways, which is based in Volos. The seaplanes connect Volos with Skiathos, Skopelos, Allonisos, Athens and Thessaloniki.
Railway
The railway stationVolos' railway station building was designed by Evaristo De Chirico soon after the liberation of Central Greece. Part of the station still functions in this picturesque 1884 structure, reminiscent to some of a stately home. The adjacent neoclassical building, built between 1900 and 1903 under Evaristo De Chirico, served as the administrative headquarters of the Thessaly Railways.
Today, the city is served by direct lines to the rest of Greece, and the railway complex houses facilities for train maintenance. Volos is directly linked with Athens once per day, with Thessaloniki twice per day, and with Larissa 15 times a day. In the past Volos was served by railway lines of three different gauges, the metre gauge line of Thessaly Railways to Kalampaka, the standard gauge line to Larissa and the 600 mm line to Pelion. Remnants of triple gauge lines still exist near the station.
Modern Volos
The architectural and urban setting of Volos is characterised by its grid of squares and streets, its sense of neighbourhood, its imposing neoclassical buildings, the aged industrial edifices, a number of green oases, and most obviously by the proximity of sea and harbour.
These elements in combination lend Volos its atmosphere and distinctiveness, making up one of the most beautiful Greek cities. The current urban plan of Volos was largely established in 1882, shortly after the liberation of the city, and was greatly influenced by concepts of neoclassical town planning. The plan connected the two city-centers (The Castle and Nea Magazia) along a simple axis; it was, however, somewhat limited given the full development possibilities of the city. The arrival of its refugees in 1922 and the earthquakes of 1955 gave Volos its present form.
Nea Magazia began construction in 1841, on the basis of a geometrically designed plan. Characteristic of this plan are the road axes lying parallel to the shore, along which developed shops and dwellings, and its central road axes today are Dimitriados street, Iasonos Street, K. Kartali Street, Diminiou, Iolkou Street and Ermou street.
The development of the new city coincided with the flourishing of neoclassicism. Public buildings conformed to this style and prestigious private buildings belonging to prosperous merchants were particularly sophisticated. Typical examples include:
The 3-storeyed Hotel de France, with its impressive decorative murals (1894, Iasonos and K. Kartali Street)
The National Bank, formerly the Epirothessalian Bank(1895)
The Athens Bank (1903, today the library of University of Thessaly)
The Achillopouleion Hospital (1901)
The Archaeological Museum of Volos, Athanasakeio (1909)
The Agricultural Bank (1909, formerly the Kosmadopoulos Bank)
The Cinetheater Achillion, (1925)
The Aegli Hotel, (1927), designed by Kassiopoulos
The Building of the Air-force High officials Club near Agios Konstantinos Park, believed to have been designed by Le Corbusier
The Bank of Greece (1935)
The Averofeian courts of Justice
The family houses of Kartalis, Glavanis, Kastemis, Saratsis
The Sarafopoulos Mansion (1927), today the Volos Club
The well preserved Regas house and its singular decorative murals, today the Lyceum of Greek women.
Volos participated in the 2004 Olympic Games, and as an Olympic City it helped to present a new face of contemporary Greece to a world audience. The city has also since played host to a succession of athletic events, such as the European Athletic Championships.
