History Missolonghi

ibrahim attacks missolonghi giuseppe pietro mazzola



lord byron on deathbed depicted joseph-denis odevaere c. 1826



title page of ellinika chronika (1824), 1 of first newspapers in modern greece, published in missolonghi under editorship of swiss philhellene johann jakob meyer. meyer killed during sortie.



the sortie of missolonghi theodoros vryzakis (1855)

during orlov revolt in 1770 fleet of missolonghi defeated , town passed ottomans. missolonghi revolted on may 20, 1821 , major stronghold of greek rebels in greek war of independence, being seat of senate of western continental greece. inhabitants resisted siege ottoman forces in 1822. second siege started on april 15, 1825 reşid mehmed pasha army numbered 30,000 men , later reinforced 10,000 men led ibrahim pasha, son of muhammad ali pasha of egypt. after year of relentless enemy attacks , facing starvation, people of missolonghi decided leave beleaguered city in exodus of guards (the sortie) on night of april 10, 1826. @ time, there 10,500 people in missolonghi, 3,500 of whom armed. few people survived ottoman pincer movement after betrayal of plan.

due heroic stance of population , subsequent massacre of inhabitants turkish-egyptian forces, town of missolonghi received honorary title of hiera polis (the sacred city), unique among other greek cities. famous british poet , philhellene lord byron, supported greek struggle independence, died in missolonghi in 1824. commemorated cenotaph, containing heart, , statue located in town.

modern era

the lagoon of city

the town picturesque modern functional, regular urban planning. interesting buildings representative of traditional architecture can seen here. people names related modern greek history once lived in of them. mansion of trikoupis family, palamas house, valvios library, christos , sophia moschandreou gallery of modern art emphasize fact missolonghi has been city of wealth , refinement. in addition, centre of culture , art, diexodos, hosts cultural events , exhibitions museum of history , art housed in neo-classical building in markos botsaris square , hosts collection of paintings indicative of struggle of missolonghi, further boosting city s cultural , artistic profile. missolonghi byron society also, founded in 1991 in city, non profit organisation devoted promoting scholarly , general understanding of lord byron s life , poetry cultivating appreciation other historical figures in 19th-century international philhellenic movement, idealists who, byron, gave fortunes, talents, , lives cause of greek war of independence. messolonghi byron center located in upper floor of byron house.

today, entrance gate remains intact , part of fortification of free besieged rebuilt king otto. past gate, there garden of heroes several famous , anonymous heroes fought during heroic sortie buried. garden of heroes equivalent of elysian fields modern greece. every year memorial day exodus celebrated on palm sunday (the sunday before easter); greek state represented high-ranking officials , foreign countries ambassadors.