Elassóna

Elassona lies at the foot of Mount Olympus, by the passes leading from the Thessalian plain towards Macedonia. In antiquity it was Oloosson, a town of the Perrhaebi; Justinian later strengthened its defences. The monastery of Panagia Olympiotissa stands on the old citadel, founded around the turn of the fourteenth century. Under Andronikos III the monastery received privileges and Elassona became the seat of an archbishop.

Ottoman records offer glimpses of the town's inhabitants. A tax register of 1521 counted 311 Christian and 35 Muslim households. A later register records the recruitment of boys from the district through the devshirme system. In 1821 some local Christians rose under their armatole captain, but within a year sought and received an amnesty from the Ottoman authorities.