Messolonghi (Greek: Μεσολόγγι, Mesolóngi, older forms Messolongi, Missolonghi, Mesolongion) is a town of about 12,000 people (as of 1991 census) in central Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania and is also the second largest town. It is the seat of the municipality of Iera Poli Messolonghiou. Messolonghi is linked and is bypasses since the 1960s with GR-5/E55. The road to Astakos is to the northwest and is also accessed to GE-48 to the east. It is located S of Agrinio, SSW of Karpenisi, WSW of Amfissa, W of the , W of Nafpaktos, E of Aitoliko and SE of Astakos. The town was founded in the 16th century and is located between the Acheloos and the rivers. The town contains a port on the Gulf of Patras (Patra or Patrai). It trades in fish, wine, and tobacco. The mountains lie to the northeast. The town is almost canalized but houses are within the gulf and the swamplands. The lies to the west and is also a swampy area. In the ancient times, the land was part of the gulf. The town had a train station which used to link the railway line linking to Ioannina and became abandoned in the 1980s.

Messolonghi was a major stronghold of the Greek insurgents in the Greek War of Independence. Its inhabitants successfully resisted a siege by Turkish forces of the Ottoman Empire in 1822–23 and held out heroically against a second siege from 1825 to 1826, when the Ottoman forces captured the town.

Due to the heroic stance of the population and the subsequent massacre of its inhabitants by the Turkish-Egyptian forces, that followed, the town of Messolonghi received the honorary title of Iera Polis translated as The Holy Town, unique among other Greek cities.

The famous English poet & philhellene Lord Byron, who supported the Greek struggle for independence, died there in 1824. He is commemorated by a cenotaph and a statue located in the town.

Historical population

Sites of interest

• , website

Other

Messolonghi has a schools, lyceums, gymnasia, churches, banks, a police station, a water tower, a post office, a junior soccer team, and a square (plateia).

Persons

• The heart of Lord Byron is buried in Missolonghi April 1824
• John Lykoudis - major and medical doctor involved in the treatment of peptic ulcer disease
• (1788-1873)

External links

• http://www.kavi.gr/greeceinfos/messolongi.htm
• http://www.in-greece.de/ziele/ort.php4?ort_id=101 (in German)
• projects/acheloos/acheloos3.html The Acheloos delta forms the Messolongi Lagoon
• http://www.ac-strasbourg.fr/pedago/lettres/Victor%20Hugo/Notes/Missol.htm (in French)
• http://p199.ezboard.com/fgreeceellasfrm94
• http://www.e-city.gr/aitoloakarnania/home/view/1200.php (in Greek)

See also

• Communities of Aetolia-Acarnania