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Mesolonghi

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'''Mesolonghi''' ([[Greek language|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 [[Aitoloakarnania prefecture|Aitoloakarnania]] and is also the second largest town. It is the seat of the municipality of '''Iera Poli Mesolonghiou'''. Mesolonghi is linked and is bypasses since the [[1960s]] with [[Greece Interstate 5|GR-5]]/[[E55]]. The road to Astakos is to the northwest and is also accessed to [[Greece Interstate 48|GE-48]] to the east. It is located S of [[Agrinio]], SSW of [[Karpenisi]], WSW od [[Amfissa]], W of the [[Rio Antirio bridge|Rio-Antirio Bridge]], 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 [[Evinos]] rivers. The town contains a port on the [[Gulf of PatrasPatra]] (Patra or Patrai). It trades in fish, wine, and tobacco. The [[Arakynthos]] mountains lie to the northeast. The town is almost canalized but houses are within the gulf and the swamplands. The [[Mesolonghi Lagoon]] 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 city|Ioannina]] and became abandoned in the [[1980s]].
Mesolonghi was a major stronghold of the Greek insurgents revolutionaries in the Greek [[War of Independence]]. Its inhabitants, led by [[Markos Botsaris]], 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, before the Ottoman forces captured the town. The famous English poet [[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==

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