Lamia (, Lamía, ) is a city in central Greece. The city dates back to antiquity, and is today the capital of the regional unit of Phthiotis and of the Central Greece region (comprising five regional units). According to the 2021 census, the Municipality of Lamia has a population of 66,657, while Lamia itself has 47,529 inhabitants. The city is located on the slopes of Mount Othrys, near the river Spercheios. It serves as the agricultural center of a fertile rural and livestock area.

Name

One account holds that the city was named after the mythological figure of Lamia, the daughter of Poseidon and queen of the Trachineans. Another account holds that it is named after the Malians, the inhabitants of the surrounding area. In the Middle Ages, Lamia was called Zetounion (Ζητούνιον), a name first encountered in the 8th Ecumenical Council in 869. It was known as Girton under Frankish rule following the Fourth Crusade and later El Citó when it was controlled by the Catalan Company of mercenaries. In Turkish, it was sometimes called İzdin or İzzeddin. The city was also known as Zeitoun.

History

thumb|Exhibits at the archaeological museum of the city|left

thumb|Postcard of Lamia, 1917.|left

alt=|thumb|Eleftherias Square

Archaeological excavations have shown the site of Lamia to have been inhabited since at least the Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC).

In antiquity, the city played an important role due to its strategic location, controlling the narrow coastal plain above Thermopylae that connected southern Greece with Thessaly and the rest of the Balkans. In its ancient phase, Lamia was located closer to the sea, which explains the existence of the nearby temple dedicated to Poseidon. With the flow of the Spercheios river, the terrain changed and the sealine was dragged to the interior of the Malian Gulf -this geological phenomenon altered the straights of Thermopylae, too.

Lamia constituted a polis (city-state). The city was therefore fortified in the 5th century BC, and was contested by the Macedonians, Thessalians and Aetolians until the Roman conquest in the early 2nd century BC.

center|thumb|900x900px|Panoramic view of Lamia and the Castle

Landmarks

thumb|160px|Statuette of a boy. Marble. Found near Lamia (area of ancient Lilaia). The nude boy leans against a pillar, on which he is pressing a duck. He wears a ribbon in his hair and his smiling face is turned toward the duck. Depiction of a local god or a young dictator. 3rd c. BC. [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]]

  • Lamia Castle, the city's fortified Acropolis. The castle had a military use until the years of king Otto I, when it housed the army barracks.
  • Platia Eleftherias (Freedom Square) - site of the towns independence day parade, and main cathedral. Also has many cafes with outdoor seating.
  • Platia Diakou (Diakos Square) - square containing the statue of Athanasios Diakos
  • Platia Parkou (Park Square)
  • Platia Laou (People's Square) - square featuring the statue of Aris Velouchiotis

Transport

Road

Highway 1 passes close to the city, while Central Greece Highway (Highway 3) is under construction, which will start south of Lamia. Interurban KTEL station serves transfers to and from Lamia.

Bus

The urban KTEL of the city serves the transport of the apartments and settlements of the Municipality of Lamia. Also, in Lamia there are several taxi "piazzas". City taxis are red. In addition, cycle paths operate within Lamia.

Rail

The city is served by Lamta railway station, with Regional services to Leianokladi and Stylida.

Air transport

Lamia Airport is located 2 kilometres from the Old Lamia-Athens National Road. The airport belongs to the Air Force and has no commercial or passenger traffic. It is used in emergency situations. The Aeroclub of Fthiotida also uses it for its activities.

Administration

The municipality Lamia was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 5 former municipalities, that became municipal units:

  • Gorgopotamos
  • Lamia
  • Leianokladi (Lianokladi)
  • Pavliani
  • Ypati

The municipality has an area of 947.006km<sup>2</sup>, the municipal unit 413.482km<sup>2</sup>.

List of mayors

The mayors of Lamia from 1881 to 2023 were as follows:

{| class="wikitable"

|+

!1836 - 1916

!1916 - 1945

|-

|

  • Nikolaos Chrysovergis (1836-1837)
  • Ioannis Petropoulos (1837-1841)
  • Georgios Chalmoukos (1841-1846)
  • Nikolaos Papaioannou (1846-1850)
  • Georgios Chalmoukos (1850-1854)
  • Kyriakos Tassikas (1854-1857)
  • Dimos Papavasileiou (1857-1866)
  • Konstantinos Kritsas (1866-1870)
  • Ioannis Kyrozis (1870-1874)
  • Komnas Trakas (1874-1878)
  • Komnas Trakas (1878-1881)
  • Dimitrios Stougiannos (1881-1883)
  • Aristidis Sklivaniotis (1883-1887)
  • Themistocles Lazos (1887-1891)
  • Aristidis Sklivaniotis (1891-1899)
  • Nikolaos Kritsas (1899-1903)
  • Spyros Trakas (1903-1914)
  • Spyros Trakas (1908-1914)
  • Stylianos Anastasiou (1914-1916)
  • Athanasios Michalopoulos (1916-1917)

|

  • Stylianos Anastasiou (1917-1922)
  • Georgios Karakantas (26 January - 3 August 1922)
  • Stylianos Anastasiou (1922-1925)
  • Ioannis Makropoulos (1925-1929)
  • Georgios Platis (1929-1934)
  • Spyros Petropoulos (1934-1937)
  • Nikolaos Doudoumopoulos (1937-1940)
  • Athanasios Grammatikas (1940-1941)
  • Konstantinos Platis (9 September - 21 October 1941)
  • Dimitrios Trakas (21 October 1941 - 16 January 1942)
  • Ioannis Elasonas (27 January - 12 March 1942)
  • Dimitrios Trakas (27 March 1942 - 4 January 1943)
  • Nikolaos Kontogiannis (5 January - 5 November 1943)
  • Dimitrios Latsos (6 November 1943 - 2 March 1944)
  • Ioannis Kontomitros (3 March - 1 September 1944)
  • Themistocles Theodosopoulos (2-23 September 1944)
  • Nikolaos Kokkalakis (24 September - 29 October 1944)
  • Nikolaos Vellios (29 October 1944 - 6 March 1945)
  • Elias Katsogiannos (2-17 February 1945)
  • Nikolaos Kokkalakis (18 February - 2 September 1945)

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+

!1945 - 1981

!1981 - Present

|-

|

  • Elias Katsogiannos (2-17 February 1945)
  • Nikolaos Kokkalakis (18 February - 2 September 1945)
  • Apostolos Pasiakos (21 September 1945 - 21 January 1946)
  • Ioannis Papasiopoulos (21 January - 4 February 1946)
  • Iosif Ser (23-31 March 1946)
  • Stavros Haralampopoulos (1946-1948)
  • Nikolaos Koutsodontis (one week)
  • Alkiviadis Machairas (one week)
  • Dimitris Kouiozis (30 August - 26 September 1948)
  • Evangelos Myresiotis (1948-1950)
  • Hercules Papadopoulos (1950-1951)
  • Ioannis Papasiopoulos (1955-1959)
  • Ioannis Papasiopoulos (1959-1964)
  • Apostolos Kounoupis (1964-1967)
  • Charalambos Tsoukalas (11-26 May 1967)
  • Georgios Pasiakos (26 May - 1 October 1967)
  • Nikolaos Moudouris (1967-1974)
  • Kosmas Anagnostatos (1974-1975)
  • Apostolos Kounoupis (1975-1978)
  • Antonios Filis (1978-1981)

|

  • Lambros Papadimas (1982-1989)
  • Lambros Papadimas (1990-1993)
  • Ioannis Papadimitriou (a few days in 1993)
  • Georgios Delis (1993-1998)
  • Georgios Kotronias (1999-2014)
  • Nikolaos Stavrogiannis (2014-2019)
  • Euthymios Karaiskos (2019-2023)
  • Panourgias Papaioannou (2024 - Present)

|}

Education

Six departments of the University of Thessaly based in the city.

Historical population

{| class=wikitable

|-

! Year !! Municipal unit !! Municipality

|-

| 1981 || 41,846 || -

|-

| 1991 || 55,445 || -

|-

| 2001 || 58,601 || -

|-

| 2011 || 64,716 || 75,315

|-

| 2021 || 58,289 || 66,657

|}

Notable people

thumb|140px|[[Athanasios Diakos]]

  • Athanasios Diakos (1788&ndash;1821) Greek military commander during the Greek War of Independence, died in Lamia
  • Dimitrios Giatzis (1891–1964) Army officer
  • Ioannis Paparrodou (1904–1941) Army Officer
  • Aris Velouchiotis (nom de guerre of Athanasios Klaras) (1905&ndash;1945), leader of the World War II guerrilla resistance (Greek People's Liberation Army)
  • Ilias Tsirimokos (1907&ndash;1968) politician, former Prime Minister of Greece
  • Thanos Leivaditis (1934&ndash;2005) actor and screenwriter
  • Dimitris Koutsoumpas (1955) General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece
  • Niki Bakoyianni (1968) high jumper (Olympic silver medalist)
  • Christos Staikouras (1973) economist, politician, New Democracy's Coordinator of Economic Affairs, Minister of Finance
  • (1984) actress
  • (1995) Sinologist, author.

International relations

Lamia is twinned with:

  • Rzeszów, Poland
  • Chioggia, Italy
  • Mytilene, Greece
  • Paphos, Cyprus

Sporting teams

Lamia has some sport clubs that play in the higher national divisions. For a period of one season, Lamia hosted the Athenian basketball club Panellinios B.C. The main clubs of Lamia are shown below.

{|class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="4"|Sport clubs based in Lamia

|-

!width="200"|Club

!Founded

!Sports

!Achievements

|-

|Lamia ||1964||Football ||Presence in Superleague

|-

|G.S. Lamias Achilleus ||1976||Volleyball ||Presence in A1 Ethniki

|-

|Ionikos Lamias B.C.||1992||Basketball||Earlier presence in A2 Ethniki

|-

|Nireas Lamias||1998||Water Polo||Presence in A1 Ethniki

|}

<gallery>

File:Lamia and Thermopylae, by Louis Dupré - 1827.jpg|Lamia and Thermopylae by Louis Dupré, 1827

File:Lamia01.JPG|Panoramic view

File:Lamia young Dionisos.jpg|Young Dionysus statue, AM of Lamia

File:Οικία Μίχου Λαμία.jpg|Michou mansion

File:Gorgopotamos Bridge 16.jpg|Gorgopotamos Bridge near Lamia

File:Νεοκλασικό Ελασσώνα Λαμία.jpg|Elassona mansion

File:Μέγαρο Περιφέρειας Λαμία.jpg|Mansion of the Central Greece Administration

</gallery>

See also

  • University of Central Greece
  • List of settlements in Phthiotis
  • List of traditional Greek place names

References

Sources

  • Πάλλης, Γιώργος (2020). Από τη Λαμία στο Ζητούνι: Ανασυνθέτοντας μια μικρή βυζαντινή πόλη. Αθήνα: Gutenberg. .
  • Papastathopoulou, Aristea. Η Λαμία κατά την Ελληνιστική περίοδο. ΘΕΜΑΤΑ ΑΡΧΑΙΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ 2020, 4(3): 358-371 (online).
  • Municipality of Lamia