Magnesia Prefecture, former prefecture in Thessaly, Greece

Magnesia Prefecture was an administrative division of Greece with its capital at Volos, covering 2,636 sq km and counting 208,500 residents in the 2011 census. It comprised the mainland area around Volos, Almyros, Velestino and Nea Anchialos, together with the Northern Sporades islands of Skiathos, Skopelos and Alonnisos. In the photographs, white-walled houses with terracotta red tiled roofs climb a hillside above the blue sea, while a grey and tan mountain massif with dark green scrub rises behind the town.

Magnesia Prefecture was established in 1899, carved out of the Larissa Prefecture, with Volos as its capital. It was abolished on 1 January 2011 under the Kallikratis programme, which split it into the regional units of Magnesia and the Sporades. The name itself is ancient: iron-attracting ore found in the area gave rise to the words magnet and magnetism, and to the elements magnesium and manganese.

The name Magnesia comes from the region's iron-attracting ore, the root of the words magnet, magnetism, magnesium and manganese. In myth, Magnes settled on Mount Pelion, home of the Centaurs; the wise Centaur Chiron taught Asclepius and Achilles there, and the wedding of Peleus and Thetis that led to the Trojan War took place on the mountain.

Summer offers warm seas and lively beaches, making it the most popular season to visit. The region is easily navigable by car, allowing visitors to move freely between beaches, villages, and mountain trails at their own pace.

The name Magnesia comes from local iron ore that attracts iron: it gave English the words magnet and magnetism, and the chemical elements magnesium (from magnesia alba) and manganese (from magnesia nigra, via Latin). The prefecture existed only from 1899, when it was carved out of Larissa Prefecture, until 1 January 2011, when the Kallikratis programme split it into Magnesia and the Sporades.