. It was founded in 294 BC by
Demetrius Poliorcetes, who relocated the inhabitants of
Nelia,
Pagasae,
Ormenium,
Rhizus,
Sepias,
Olizon,
Boebe and
Iolcos, all of which were afterwards included in the territory of Demetrias. It soon became an important place, and the favourite residence of the Macedonian kings. It was favourably situated for commanding the interior of Thessaly, as well as the neighbouring seas; and such was the importance of its position that it was called by
Philip V of Macedon one of the three
fetters of Greece, the other two being
Chalcis and
Corinth. In 196 BC, the Romans, victorious in the
Battle of Cynoscephalae over Philip V in the previous year, took possession of Demetrias and garrisoned the town. Four years later the
Aetolian League captured it by surprise. The Aetolians allied themselves with
Antiochus III of the
Seleucid Empire in the
Roman–Seleucid War. This ended in the defeat of Antiochus. After the return of Antiochus to Asia in 191 BC, Demetrias surrendered to Philip, who was allowed by the Romans to retain possession of the place. It continued in the hands of Philip and his successor till the over-throw of the Macedonian monarchy at the
Battle of Pydna, 169 BC. During Roman times it lost importance, but it was the capital of the
Magnesian League. In Christian times some buildings were built, especially two churches, one in the northern port, called Basilica of Damokratia, and another one to the south of the city, outside the walls, known as the Cemetery Basilica. Under Roman emperor
Constantine the Great (ruled 306–337) it became a Christian
episcopal see and is now a
titular see of the Catholic Church. According to
Procopius (
De Aedificiis, 4.3.5), Demetrias was rebuilt by
Justinian I (r. 527–565), but other evidence points to the possibility that "ancient urban life may have already come to an end by the beginning of the 6th century" (T.E. Gregory). Demetrias is mentioned by
Hierocles in the sixth century. Its territory was settled by the
Slavic tribe of the
Belegezitai in the 7th/8th centuries, raided and sacked by the
Saracens in 901/2, and by rebels during the
Uprising of Peter Delyan in 1040. Following the
Fourth Crusade, the town was granted to the exiled Byzantine empress
Euphrosyne Doukaina Kamatera, and after her death in 1210 to
Margaret of Hungary, the widow of the
King of Thessalonica,
Boniface of Montferrat. The city came under the rule of
Manuel Komnenos Doukas ca. 1240, but was
de facto controlled by a branch of the
Melissenos family. In the 1270s, the Byzantines scored an important victory against the
Venetians and the
Lombard barons of Euboea at the
Battle of Demetrias. The
Catalan Company sacked the town in 1310 and kept it until 1381 at least, but from 1333 on, it began to be abandoned for neighbouring
Volos. It was finally captured by the
Ottoman Empire in 1393. ==Archaeology==