page_title: Agria
section_title: Economic growth
hierarchical_section_title: Agria / Economic growth
caption_attribution_description: Станция туристической ж\д на полуострове Пилион, в пригороде Волоса, Греция
context_page_description: Agria is a town and a former municipality in Magnesia, Thessaly, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Volos, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 25.227 km². It lies on the Pelion peninsula about 7 km from Volos.
context_section_description: From 1809 - 1860 companies were created that exported local crafts and copper to Western Europe, Romania, and Russia.
  Agria started to grow rapidly after the annexation of Thessaly from the Turks, and with the construction of a coastal road and rail network during 1895 that connected Volos to the southwestern villages of Pelion, which exported sea fruit, oil, and black olives from the bay.
  In 1911 the international cement plant A.G.E.T HERCULES (Greek: Α.Γ.Ε.Τ ΗΡΑΚΛΗΣ) was founded there. The plant occupies a natural harbor and is among the largest cement producers in Europe, Asia, and America.
  In 1920 an English commercial paper stated that Agria was «the largest port in the world» with reference to their exports of olives and oil. Around two hundred thousand kilos (200 tons) of table olives are exported annually from Agria.
  A new wave of residents moved to Agria in 1922 when refugees from Asia Minor, mainly Eastern Thrace, took shelter there after their expulsion from their home land.
  20th century Agria saw population and industrial growth. The famous EPSA (Greek: ΕΨΑ) founded in 1924 by the Kosmadopoulos brothers, who owned a bank, built a refrigerated fruit and ice plant. The overproduction of lemons in the already developed movement of traditional lemonade from Asia Minor sellers, leading owners to recruit a German engineer for running drink bottling plant. The legend is the German engineer has discovered a rare recipe for the production of lemonade, recipe still used today is unchanged and the company's stock.
  Other local businesses were founded and flourished then as the factories of packaging and trade of olives, the wood processing industry which was originally craft construction barrels and the modernization of the industry turned to woodworking and furniture at the same time. Other smaller companies also mostly oil warehouses - have begun to operate and attract people to Agria.
caption: The train station.
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