Velestino is a beautiful town in Magnesia, located 19 km west of Volos. It is built on the site of ancient Pherae, the mythical kingdom of King Admetus, situated in a fertile plain and surrounded by pine-covered hills. Velestino is the birthplace of Rigas Feraios of Velestinli, a hero of the Greek War of Independence in 1821. During the Greco-Turkish War of 1897, a fierce battle took place in Velestino between the Greeks, led by Colonel Konstantinos Smolenski, and the Turks, under Na'im Pasha, with the Greeks emerging victorious.