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... REGION: Central Greece ... Prefecture: Etoloakarnania ... / Messolonghi \ ... Messolongi (or Messolonghi), with ca 15,000 inhab., is the capital of the district (nome) of Aitoloakarnania, and the seat of a bishop. The town is, by repute, more familiar to the English-speaking world than many others in Greece of greater importance, for here Lord Byron (born 1788) died of fever on 19 April 1824, after ten months of incessant activity in the cause of Greek independence. Mesolongi, now by-passed by the main highway, is situated on the E shore of a vast lagoon (Limnothalassa) partly given over to fish hatcheries and the haunt of many water-birds. This has always been too shallow to allow the approach of vessels of any size, and a long causeway extends S to deep water at Tourlidha. The local sailing boats have affinities with the Egyptian felucca and the nets are unusual. Drainage and reclamation work is hastening the disappearance of the fishing community and their characteristic reed huts built on piles. In the local cafes the 'mezes' are varied and good. Mesolongi was the W centre of resistance against the Turks in the War of Independence, and had to endure three sieges. In 1822 it was defended by Mavrogordato against a force of 10,000 led by Omer Vrioni and Reshid Pasha. In 1823 its commander was the Suliot, Markos Botsaris. In January 1824 Lord Byron came to Mesolongi and inspired the defenders with his enthusiasm; he died the following April before the beginning of the final siege. In April 1825 Reshid Pasha appeared before the town with 15,000 troops. The defenders numbered only 5000. Hampered by furious sorties and by a lack of supplies Reshid Pasha could make no headway for six months. Then Ibrahim Pasha, with 10,000 Egyptians, advanced to his aid from the Peloponnese. After fluctuating struggles for the islands in the lagoon, the enemy closed round the devoted town. At the end of their resources after 12 months of siege, almost the whole population determined to break out. Their attempt (the 'Exodos') was made on the night of 22/23 April 1826. Though they managed to get clear of the town, they were frustrated by the treachery of a Bulgarian deserter, who had forewarned the besiegers. The fugitives, imagining themselves safe, were ambushed by 1000 Albanians on the slopes of Mt Zygos. Out of the 9000 who left Mesolongi, soldiers and civilians, only 1800 made good their escape to Amphissa. Meanwhile those who had stayed behind fired their magazines, overwhelming themselves and their enemies in a common destruction. In 1828 the Turks surrendered Mesolongi without firing a shot. The town is entered through the Venetian walls by the 'Gate of the Sortie,' rebuilt by King Otho to protect the hastily repaired earthen rampart through which the exodos was made. Within the gate (right) is a pleasant garden with the Heroon commemorating the heroes of the town's three sieges. A large central tumulus contains the bodies of unnamed defenders; to the right is the tomb of Botsaris, and, between the two a statue of Byron erected in 1881, beneath which is the poet's heart. The centre of the town is the Plateia (Square) Botsari, where the Dhimarkhion houses the Museum of the Revolution, with Byron relics and several dramatic pictures of the war. Odhos Trikoupis leads W and at its end Odhos Levidou brings us to a small square where a Memorial Garden occupies the site of the house in which Byron died: the house was destroyed in the Second World War. Continuing round a school we reach the causeway, with a bust of the poet Kostis Palamas and the reconstructed base of the historic Windmill blown up by Christos Kapsalis on 11 April 1826.

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