A city of heroes and an enchanting lagoon. An ideal weekend destination, all year round.
Built on a peninsula between its namesake lagoon and that of Kleisova, at the mouths of the Evinos and Acheloos rivers, Messolonghi is a destination that offers visitors unique experiences through a blend of simplicity, natural beauty, and history. The most prevalent version holds that the city's name comes from the combination of the Italian words mezzo and langhi (Mezzolanghi), which means «in the midst of lakes» or messo langhi (Messolanghi), that is, «a place amid lakes».
The famed lagoon with its picturesque «pelades» - the small wooden houses that seem to float on the water - and its countless bird species is an environmental park and ecosystem. A stroll through this enchanting corner of Western Greece will carry you through history and offer images of unique beauty in every season.
The city of heroes
Messolonghi is also called the Sacred City, as it's been identified like no other with the Greek War of Independence of 1821. The most important page of its history was written with the heroic Exodus (April 10, 1826) of the people of Messolonghi after a months-long siege by the Ottomans, an event that sealed modern Greek history.
Your walk in the city can start at the Garden of Heroes, a 14-stremma expanse at the entrance on the northern side of the city, where monuments to the heroes of the historic Exodus of 1826 and to the Philhellenes who envisioned the city's liberation stand prominently. Among others, you'll see the monument of Markos Botsaris, with the Daughter of Greece or Paidoula, a faithful copy by Georgios Bonakos from the original by the French sculptor David d’Angers (the original is exhibited at the National Historical Museum), and the statue of the English philhellene Lord Byron, a work by Georgios Vitalis.
It's worth stepping through the doors of the Messolonghi Museum of History and Art, housed in a building constructed in 1937. In its two ground-floor rooms you'll find mementos, personal items, and the statue of the philhellene poet Lord Byron, as well as paintings and lithographs with themes from the poet's life and actions during the 1821 revolution.
It's worth noting that Messolonghi was the birthplace of the men of letters Kostis Palamas, Miltiadis Malakassis, and Antonis Travlantonis, as well as important figures of political life, among them prime ministers Spyridon and Charilaos Trikoupis, Dimitris and Zinovios Valvis, and Epameinondas Deligiorgis. In the city you'll find, among other things, the residence of the Trikoupis family, that of the poet Palamas, the Valveios Library, which also serves as the city's public municipal library with rare books and documents, as well as the Aetolia-Acarnania Christos and Sofia Moschandreou Gallery of Contemporary Art with numerous works by important Greek creators.
Also distinctive and very interesting is the Salt Museum located near the settlement of Tourlida, next to the salt pans. Here you'll have the chance to learn everything related to salt from its first appearance on the planet to the present day.
The Messolonghi Lagoon
The Messolonghi Lagoon is one of the largest wetlands in the Mediterranean. It spreads where the Gulf of Patras meets the Ionian Sea and the Evinos and Acheloos rivers empty, and it extends from the foothills of Varasova to the Gulf of Astakos, along a 50 km coastal front. It's one of Greece's most important wetlands, protected by the Ramsar Convention. Over 200 bird species find refuge here.
You can take a boat ride and get to know the islets that adorn the lagoon, see the fishermen's fish weirs and enjoy the sunset. Activities also include canoe-kayak and, of course, birdwatching.
A stroll in «Little Venice»
Ten kilometers from Messolonghi, a small islet in the middle of the serene lagoon is home to picturesque Aitoliko, otherwise known as Greece's «Little Venice», as it's often called. This small town of Aetolia-Acarnania unfolds on an islet roughly at the center of the Aitoliko-Messolonghi lagoon, which is connected to the mainland to the east and west by two stone arched bridges 300 meters long. Stroll along the seafront avenue with the palm trees and through Aitoliko's narrow lanes, visit churches that hide treasures of inestimable value, such as the Dormition of the Theotokos (here, in April 1824, the famous trial of Georgios Karaiskakis took place) and the Church of the Taxiarches, and take a walk at Aitoliko's little harbor.
Flavors from the lagoon
You can't go to Messolonghi and not try the world-famous Messolonghi bottarga, otherwise known as «Greek caviar», which has been designated a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product. It's a fine delicacy with a distinctive flavor. The product comes from the roe sacs of the bafa (the female mullet), which locals process with salt, then subject to light drying, and then immerse in wax so they remain unchanged. Besides bottarga, at the area's little tavernas you'll have the chance to taste ultra-fresh fish from the lagoon, gilt-head bream, sea bass, mullet, and eels.
