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Mesolonghi

Revision as of 15:33, October 14, 2005 by Irlandos (talk | contribs)
Statistics
Prefecture: Aitoloakarnania
Province: Mesolonghi
Location:
Latitude:
Longitude:

38.38/38°22'51' N lat.
21.428/21°25'45' E long
Population: (2001)
 - Total
 - Density¹
 - Rank

 16,859

 -/km²
Elevation:
 -lowest:
 -centre:
 -highest:

Gulf of Patras
9 m(centre)
about 600 to 800 m
Postal code: 302 00
Area/distance code: 11-30-26310 (030-26310)-2
Municipal code: 0218
Car designation: ME (Messolonghi)
3-letter abbreviation: MES

Mesolonghi (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 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 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 od Amfissa, W of the 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 Patras (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 and became abandoned in the 1980s.

Mesolonghi was a major stronghold of the Greek insurgents 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.

Contents

Historical population

Year Population Change Municipal population
1981 11,375 - -
1991 10,916 -459/-4.04% 16,859

Sites of interest

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

External links

See also




Northwest: Aitoliko North: Arakynthos Northeast: Makrynia
West: Messolonghi Lagoon Iera Poli Messolongiou East: Chalkia
South: Gulf of Patras