| Tyrnavos Τύρναβος |
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| Location | |
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Tyrnavos
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| Coordinates | |
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Location within the region
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| Government | |
| Country: | Greece |
| Region: | Thessaly |
| Regional unit: | Larissa |
| Population statistics (as of 2001) | |
| Municipality | |
| - Population: | 25,307 |
| - Area: | 516.3 km2 (199 sq mi) |
| - Density: | 49 /km2 (127 /sq mi) |
| Municipal unit | |
| - Population: | 16,900 |
| Community | |
| - Population: | 12,451 |
| Other | |
| Time zone: | EET/EEST (UTC+2/3) |
| Postal: | 401 00 |
| Auto: | ΡΙ |
Tyrnavos (Greek: Τύρναβος, from the Slavic "Tirnovo") is a municipality in the Larissa regional unit, of the Thessaly region of Greece. Tyrnavos is the prefecture's third largest community within the Larissa prefecture. The town is near the mountains and the Thessalian Plain. The river Titarisios, a tributary of the Pineios, flows through the town. Tyrnavos is bypassed by the GR-3 (Larissa - Kozani - Niki) and has an old road connecting the town to Elassona. It will be linked with a superhighway numbered 3 (A3) with an unscheduled opening date. Tyrnavos is located south-southwest of Thessaloniki and Katerini, northwest of Larissa, east-northeast of Trikala and south-southeast of Elassona and Kozani.
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The city holds an annual Phallus festival, a traditional phallophoric event on the first days of Lent.[1] The festival takes place on the first Monday of Lent (Clean Monday) and involves eating, drinking, dancing, singing and gigantic wooden phalluses. The pagan fertility festival in honour of the god Dionysus marks the beginning of the Greek Orthodox fasting period before Easter and is one of the most famous in Greece. The festival and the town are also famous for the "bourani" spinach soup.[1] Until the 1940s the festival was reserved for men only but gradually women have acquired a more active role. Due to the intense pagan roots of the festival and its irreverence, the Greek Orthodox Church does not approve of the event.
The municipality Tyrnavos was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units:[2]
The municipal unit of Tyrnavos is divided into the following communities (constituent settlements in brackets):
| Year | Town population | Municipal district population | Municipality population |
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| 1981 | 11,118 | - | - |
| 1991 | 12,028 | - | 16,923 |
| 2001 | 11,116 | 12,451 | 16,900 |
The municipality is made up of mountains covering the northern portion as well as grasslands. Farmlands dominate the southern portion in which is part of the Thessalian Plain and the Titarisios valley. Tyrnavos is a major wine producing center.
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