Mesolongi Attractions
Mesolóngi (Italian Missolunghi), chief town of the nomos of Aetolia and Acarnania, lies - as its name indicates - "amid the lagoons" on the north side of the Gulf of Patras. The poet Kostis Palamas (1843-1943), who grew up here, depicts the character and history of the town in his poem "Lament of the Lagoon".
Mesolóngi's main claim to fame is its heroic defense against the Turks during the war of liberation. The town, in which Alexander Mavrokordatos, President elect of Greece, had set up his headquarters in 1821, was defended by the Souliot leader Markos Botsaris. On January fifth 1824 Byron landed at Mesolóngi, but died of fever on April 19th. The Greek defenders tried to break through the Turkish lines in April 1826, but only 1800 out of 9000 were successful in doing so; those left in the town thereupon set fire to the powder magazines and blew themselves up.
Mesolóngi's main claim to fame is its heroic defense against the Turks during the war of liberation. The town, in which Alexander Mavrokordatos, President elect of Greece, had set up his headquarters in 1821, was defended by the Souliot leader Markos Botsaris. On January fifth 1824 Byron landed at Mesolóngi, but died of fever on April 19th. The Greek defenders tried to break through the Turkish lines in April 1826, but only 1800 out of 9000 were successful in doing so; those left in the town thereupon set fire to the powder magazines and blew themselves up.
Byron Festival of Literature and Art
Vyronia, the Byron Festival of literature and art, is held annually in Mesolóngi in September.
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Neokhorió - Oiniadai
West of Neokhorió, where the broad river Akhelóos is crossed, and Katókhi, we come to the overgrown remains of ancient Oiniadai, situated on a low ridge of hills. The town was founded by Alkmaion, son of Amphiaraos, and named after his son Oineus. To the north, on what was once the shore of Lake Melite, are remains of the harbor; to the southeast is the acropolis, with a polygonal wall of the sixth century B.C.
Oxia Islands
To the south of the Akhelóos estuary are the Oxia Islands, scene of the battle of Lepanto in 1571, in which the western fleet commanded by Don John of Austria, a natural son of the Emperor Charles V, defeated the Turkish fleet. Here and there in the country round Mesolóngi the reed huts of the nomadic Sarakatsans can still be seen.
