Site of national memory and timeless emotion
It is not exactly a castle, nor does it stand on elevated ground – yet here one of the most glorious chapters of Greek history was written: the Exodus of Messolongi , in April 1826. Ibrahim Pasha called it "Fence", while the poet Dionysios Solomos wrote: "Never have my eyes beheld a place more glorious than this little threshing floor."
The wall with the large and smaller trenches, bastions and embankments, essentially enclosed the "free besieged" turning Messolongi into an island. It was built in 1823, by Michael Kokkinis, under the orders of Alexandros Mavrokordatos, through the labour of fighters and civilians. With the forces of Kioutachis and Ibrahim at the gates, the fortifications were reinforced several times and withstood all expectations. The defenders of Messolongi did not surrender. Instead, faced with a blockade that did not allow supplies to be brought to the city, they carried out the heroic Exodus.
After the fall of Messolongi , the wall was destroyed. On its site, a new one was built in 1838, during the reign of Otto, in honor of the fallen.
What you will see today dates back to 1850. You will also encounter the Gate, standing on the same place as the original one, and of course the Garden of Heroes: an area of 1,4 hectares on which the Exodites fought and were buried. It has been designated a Historic Site. It took its present form in 1930. During your tour through its lush vegetation you will see the 69 monuments dedicated to the Greek and Philhellene fighters. Essentially it is an outdoor sculpture museum, in which, among other things, you will observe the Tomb of Heroes, the statue of the philhellene poet Lord Byron, the monument to the Philhellenes, the monument to Markos Botsaris.
The wall with the large and smaller trenches, bastions and embankments, essentially enclosed the "free besieged" turning Messolongi into an island. It was built in 1823, by Michael Kokkinis, under the orders of Alexandros Mavrokordatos, through the labour of fighters and civilians. With the forces of Kioutachis and Ibrahim at the gates, the fortifications were reinforced several times and withstood all expectations. The defenders of Messolongi did not surrender. Instead, faced with a blockade that did not allow supplies to be brought to the city, they carried out the heroic Exodus.
After the fall of Messolongi , the wall was destroyed. On its site, a new one was built in 1838, during the reign of Otto, in honor of the fallen.
What you will see today dates back to 1850. You will also encounter the Gate, standing on the same place as the original one, and of course the Garden of Heroes: an area of 1,4 hectares on which the Exodites fought and were buried. It has been designated a Historic Site. It took its present form in 1930. During your tour through its lush vegetation you will see the 69 monuments dedicated to the Greek and Philhellene fighters. Essentially it is an outdoor sculpture museum, in which, among other things, you will observe the Tomb of Heroes, the statue of the philhellene poet Lord Byron, the monument to the Philhellenes, the monument to Markos Botsaris.
