If Thessaly is a plain, the Pineios is the reason it exists. It rises in the Pindus, crosses the Thessalian plain, flows through Larissa and, through the Vale of Tempe, reaches the Aegean.
A river with a myth
In ancient mythology the Pineios was a river god, father of the nymph Daphne. When she begged to escape from Apollo, she was turned into a laurel tree. From then on the plant became the god's symbol, and the symbol of victory.
Inside the city
For the people of Larissa the Pineios is not only history. It is the riverbank where they walk in the afternoon, the bridges they cross every day, the green that separates the neighbourhoods. From above you can clearly see how the river draws the city: a dark curve, green on both sides, leading the eye to the mountains.
With care
A river that gives life also needs care. The floods of recent years in Thessaly reminded everyone that the Pineios is a force, not just a landscape.
Photographs
