Larissa [key], city (1991 pop. 113,090), capital of Larissa prefecture, E Greece, in Thessaly on the Piniós River. It is an agricultural trade center and a transportation hub, linked by rail with the port of Vólos and with Thessaloníki and Athens. The chief city of ancient Thessaly, it was annexed (4th cent. b.c.) by Philip II of Macedon and in 196 b.c. became an ally of Rome. It was taken from the Byzantine Empire by Bulgaria and later was held by Serbia, with which it passed (15th cent.) under the rule of the Ottoman Turks. In the Greek War of Independence the city was (1821) the headquarters of Ali Pasha. Turkey ceded the city to Greece in 1881.
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