Mesolóngion

Mesolóngion mĭsəlôngˈgē [key], town (1991 pop. 12,103), capital of Aetolia and Acarnania prefecture, W central Greece, a port on the Gulf of Pátrai. It trades in fish, wine, and tobacco. Mesolóngion was a major stronghold of the Greek insurgents in the Greek War of Independence. Its inhabitants successfully resisted a siege by 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. Lord Byron, the English poet who supported the Greek insurgents, died there in 1824.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Greek Political Geography