This heroic small town in western Greece lies on the shores of a wide and shallow lagoon in the province of Aetolo-Acarnania. In 1826, during the War of Independence, the world was impressed by the heroic exodus of some 2,000 inhabitants who broke through the lines of the vastly superior Turkish and Egyptian forces.
Few managed to get through, and in memory of those who perished in that heroic attempt, Missolonghi celebrates each year the Great Exodus. The town is also famous for its romantic associations with Lord Byron and another philhellene ( “the admirer of Greeks and everything Greek” ), who died here.
Aetolikon ( 9 km from Messolonghi on the Agrinion road ) is a picturesque seaside town reminiscent of a small Venice with its lagoon.
The most important center of the Greek tobacco industry is Agrinion ( 34 km from Messolonghi ).
From the charming town of Amphilochia ( 40 km from Agrinion ), skirting the Amvrakikos Gulf, one reaches the idyllic small town of Vonitsa and its Frankish castle.
