Listed 25 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU Municipality ETOLOAKARNANIA" .
ALIKARNA (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Halikurna: Eth. Hadikurnaios. A village of Aetolia, described by Strabo as situated
30 stadia below Calydon towards the sea Pliny places it near Pleuron. Leake discovered
some ruins, midway between Kurt-aga (the site of Calydon) and the eastern termination
of the lagoon of Mesolonghi, which he supposes to be the remains of Halicyrna.
ARAKYNTHOS (Mountain) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Aracynthus (Arakunthos: Zygos), a range of mountains in Aetolia running
in a south-easterly direction from the Achelous to the Evenus, and separating
the lower plain of Aetolia near the sea from the upper plain above the lakes Hyria
and Trichonis. (Strab. pp. 450, 460; Dionys. Perieg. 431; Leake, Northern Greece,
vol. i. p. 121.) Pliny (iv. 2. § 3) and Solinus (7. § 22) erroneously call Aracynthus
a mountain of Acarnania. If we can trust the authority of later writers and of
the Roman poets, there was a mountain of the name of Aracynthus both in Boeotia
and in Attica, or perhaps on the frontiers of the two countries. Thus Stephanus
B. (s. v.) and Servius (ad Virg. Eel. ii. 24) speak of a Boeotian Aracynthus;
and Sextus Empiricus (adv. Gramm. c. 12, p. 270), Lutatius (ad Stat. Theb. ii.
239), and Vibius Sequester (de Month. p. 27) mention an Attic Aracynthus. The
mountain is connected with the Boeotian hero Amphion both by Propertius (iii.
13. 42) and by Virgil (Ecl. ii. 24); and the line of Virgil - Amphion Dircaeus
in Actaeo Aracyntho - would seem to place the mountain on the frontiers of Boeotia
and Attica. (Comp. Brandstater, Die Gesch. des Aetol. Landes, p. 108.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited July 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
INIADES (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Oiniadai, Oineiadai, Eth. Oiniadai. A town in Acarnania, situated
on the W. bank of the Achelous, about 10 miles from its mouth. It was one of the
most important of the Acarnanian towns, being strongly fortified both by nature
and by art, and commanding the whole of the south of Acarnania. It was surrounded
by marshes, many of them of great extent and depth, which rendered it quite inaccessible
in the winter to an invading force. Its territory appears to have extended on
both sides of the Achelous, and to have consisted of the district called Paracheloitis,
which was very fertile. It seems to have derived its name from the mythical Oeneus,
the great Aetolian hero. The town is first mentioned about B.C. 455. The Messenians,
who had been settled at Naupactus by the Athenians at the end of the Third Messenian
War (455), shortly afterwards made an expedition against Oeniadae, which they
took; but after holding it for a year, they were attacked by the Acarnanians and
compelled to abandon the town. (Paus. iv. 25.) Oeniadae is represented at that
time as an enemy of Athens, which is said to have been one of the reasons that
induced the Messenians to attack the place. Twenty-three years before the Peloponnesian
War (B.C. 454) Pericles laid siege to the town, but was unable to take it. (Thuc.
i. 111; Diod. xi. 85.) In the Peloponnesian War, Oeniadae still continued opposed
to the Athenians, and was the only Acarnanian town, with the exception of Astacus,
which sided with the Lacedaemonians. In the third year of the war (429) Phormion
made an expedition into Acarnania to secure the Athenian ascendancy; but though
he took Astacus, he did not continue to march against Oeniadae, because it was
the winter, at which season the marshes secured the town from all attack. In the
following year (428) his son Asopius sailed up the Achelous, and ravaged the territory
of Oeniadae; but it was not till 424 that Demosthenes, assisted by all the other
Acarnanians, compelled the town to join the Athenian alliance. (Thuc. ii. 102,
iii. 7, iv. 77.) It continued to be a place of great importance during the Macedonian
and Roman wars. In the time of Alexander the Great, the Aetolians, who had extended
their dominions on the W. bank of the Achelous, succeeded in obtaining possession
of Oeniadae, and expelled its inhabitants in so cruel a manner that they were
threatened with the vengeance of Alexander. (Diod. xviii. 8.) Oeniadae remained
in the hands of the Aetolians till 219, when it was taken by Philip, king of Macedonia.
This monarch, aware of the importance of the place, strongly fortified the citadel,
and commenced uniting the harbour and the arsenal with the citadel by means of
walls. (Polyb. iv. 65.) In 211 Oeniadae, together with the adjacent Nesus (Nesos)
or Nasus, was taken by the Romans, under M. Valerius Laevinus, and given to the
Aetolians, who were then their allies; but in 189 it was restored to the Acarnanians
by virtue of one of the conditions of the peace made between the Romans and Aetolians
in that year. (Pol. ix. 39; Liv. xxvi. 24; Polyb. xxii. 15; Liv. xxxviii. 11.)
From this period Oeniadae disappears from history; but it continued to exist in
the time of Strabo.
The exact site of Oeniadae was long a matter of dispute. Dodwell and
Gell supposed the ruins on the eastern side of the Achelous to represent Oeniadae;
but these ruins are those of Pleuron. The true position of Oeniadae has now been
fixed with certainty by Leake, and his account has been confirmed by Mure, who
has since visited the spot. Its ruins are found at the modern Trikardho, on the
W. bank of the Achelous, and are surrounded by morasses on every side. To the
N. these swamps deepen into a reedy marsh or lake, now called Lesini or Katokhi,
and by the ancients Melite. In this lake is a small island, probably the same
as the Nasos mentioned above. Thucydides is not quite correct in his statement
(ii. 102) that the marshes around the city were caused by the Achelous alone;
he appears to take no notice of the lake of Melite, which afforded a much greater
protection to the city than the Achelous, and which has no connection with this
river. The city occupied an extensive insulated hill, from the southern extremity
of which there stretches out a long slope in the direction of the Achelous, connecting
the hill with the plain. The entire circuit of the fortifications still exists,
and cannot be much less than three miles. The walls, which are chiefly of polygonal
construction, are in an excellent state of preservation, often to a height of
from 10 to 12 feet. Towards the N. of the city was the port, communicating with
the sea by a deep river or creek running up through the contiguous marsh to Petala
on the coast.
Leake discovered the ruins of a theatre, which stood near the middle
of the city ; but the most interesting remains in the place are its arched posterns
or sallyports, and a larger arched gateway leading from the port to the city.
These arched gateways appear to be of great antiquity, and prove that the arch
was known in Greece at a much earlier period than is usually supposed. Drawings
of several of these gateways are given by Mure.
Strabo speaks of a town called Old Oenia (he palaia Oinaia), which
was deserted in his time, and which he describes as midway between Stratus and
the sea. New Oenia (he nun Oinaia), which he places 70 stadia above the mouth
of the Achelous, is the celebrated town of Oeniadae, spoken of above. The history
of Old Oenia is unknown. Leake conjectures that it may possibly have been Erysiche
(Erusiche), which Stephanus supposes to be the same as Oeniadae; but this is a
mistake, as Strabo quotes the authority of the poet Apollodorus to prove that
the Erysichaei were a people in the interior of Acarnania. Leake places Old Oenia
at Palea Mani, where he found some Hellenic remains.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Kaludon: Eth. Kaludonios, Calydonius: Kurt-aga. The most celebrated
city of Aetolia, in the heroic age, was founded by Aetolus in the land of the
Curetes, and was called Calydon, after the name of his son. Calydon and the neighbouring
town of Pleuron are said by Strabo to have been once the ornament (proschema)
of Greece, but to have sunk in his time into insignificance. Calydon was situated
in a fertile plain near the Evenus, and at the distance of 7 1/2 (Roman) miles
from the sea, according to Pliny It is frequently mentioned by Homer, who gives
it the epithet of petreessa and aipeine, from which we might conclude that the
city was situated on a, rocky height; but Strabo says that these epithets were
to be applied to the district and not to the city itself. Homer also celebrates
the fertility of the plain of the lovely (eranne) Calydon. In the earliest times
the inhabitants of Calydon appear to have been engaged in incessant hostilities
with the Curetes, who continued to reside in their ancient capital Pleuron, and
who endeavoured to expel the invaders from their country. A vivid account of one
of the battles between the Curetes and Calydonians is given in ran episode of
the Iliad (ix. 529, seq.). The heroes of Calydon are among the most celebrated
of the heroic age. It was the residence of Oeneus, father of Tydeus and Meleager,
and grandfather of Diomedes. In the time of Oeneus Artemis sent a monstrous boar
to lay waste the fields of Calydon, which was hunted by Meleager and numerous
other heroes. The Calydonians took part in the Trojan war under their king Thoas,
the son (not the grandson) of Oeneus. (Hom. Il. ii. 638.)
Calydon is not often mentioned in the historical period. In B.C. 391
we find it in the possession of the Achaeans, but we are not told how it came
into their hands; we know, however; that Naupactus was given to the Achaeans at
the close of the Peloponnesian war, and it was probably the Achaeans settled at
Naupactus who gained possession of the town. In the above-mentioned year the Achaeans
at Calydon, were so hard pressed by the Acarnanians that they applied to the Lacedaemonians
for help; and Agesilaus in consequence was sent with an army into Aetolia. Calydon
remained in the hands of the Achaeans till the overthrow of the Spartan supremacy
by the battle of Leuctra (B.C. 371), when Eparninondas restored, the town to the
Aetolians. In the civil war between Caesar. and Pompey (B.C. 48) it still appears
as a considerable place; but a few years afterwards its inhabitants were removed
by Augustus to Nicopolis, which he founded to commemorate his victory at Actium
(B.C. 31). It continues however to be mentioned by the later geographers.
Calydon was the head-quarters of the worship of Artemis Laphria, and
when, the inhabitants of the town were removed to Nicopolis, Augustus gave to
Patrae in Achaia the statue of this goddess which had belonged to Calydon. (Paus.
iv. 31. § 7, vii. 18. § 8.) There was also a statue of Dionysus at Patrae which
had been removed from Calydon. (Paus. vii. 21.) Near Calydon there was a temple
of Apollo Laphrius (Strabo); and in the neighbourhood of the city there was also
a lake celebrated for its fish.
In the Roman poets we find Calydonis, a woman of Calydon, i. e. Deianira,
daughter of Oeneus, king of Calydon (Ov. Met. ix. 112); Calydonius hers, i. e
Meleager; Calydonius amnis, i. e. the Achelous, separating Acarnania and Aetolia,
because Calydon was the chief town of Aetolia; Calydonia regna, i. e. Apulia,
because Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, and, grandson of Oeneus, king of. Calydon,
afterwards obtained Apulia as his kingdom.
There has been some dispute respecting the site of Calydon. The Peutingerian
Table places it east of the Evenus, and 9 miles from this river; but this is clearly
a mistake. It is evident from Strabo's account, and from all the legends relating
to Calydon, that both this city and Pleuron lay on the western side of the Evenus,
between this river and the Achelous. Leake supposes the ruins which he discovered
at Kurt-aga, a little to the E. of the Evenus, to be those of Calydon. They are
distant a ride of 1 hour and 35 minutes from Mesolonghi, and are situated on one
of the last slopes of Mt. Aracynthus at the entrance of the vale of the Evenus,
where that river issues from the interior valleys into the maritime plain. They
do not stand on any commanding height, as the Homeric epithets above mentioned
would lead us to suppose, and it is perhaps for this reason that Strabo, supposes
these epithets to apply to the surrounding country. Thee remains of the walls
are traceable in their whole circuit of near two miles and a half; and outside
the walls Leake discovered some ruins, which may have been the peribolus of the
temple of, Artemis Laphria.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
PEANION (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Paeanium (Paianion), a town, in Aetolia, near the Achelous, a little
S. of Ithoria, and N. of Oeniadae, which was on the other side of the river. It
was only 7 stadia in circumference, and was destroyed by Philip, B.C. 219. (Polyb.
iv. 65.) Paeanium was perhaps rebuilt, and may be the Same town as Phana (phana),
which was taken by the Achaeans, and which we learn from the narrative in Pausanias
was near the sea. (Paus. x. 18.) Stephanus mentions Phana as a town of Italy ;
but for Polis Italias, we ought probably to read Polis Altolias. (Steph. B. s.
v. phanai.)
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
(Pleuron: Eth. Pleuronios, also Pleuroneus, Pleuronius). the name
of two cities in Aetolia, the territory of which was called Pleuronia. ( Strab.
x. p. 465; Auson. Epitaph. 10.)
1. Old Pleuron ( he palaia Pleuron, Strab. x. p. 451), was situated in
the plain between the Achelous and the Evenus, W. of Calydon, at the foot of Mount
Curium, from which the Curetes are said to have derived their name. Pleuron and
Calydon were the two chief towns of Aetolia in the heroic age, and are said by
Strabo (x. p. 450) to have been the ancient ornament (proschema) of Greece. Pleuron
was originally a town of the Curetes, and its inhabitants were engaged in frequent
wars with the Aetolians of the neighbouring town of Calydon. The Curetes, whose
attack upon Calydon is mentioned in an episode of the Iliad (ix. 529), appear
to have been the inhabitants of Pleuron. At the time of the Trojan War, however,
Pleuron was an Aetolian city, and its inhabitants sailed against Troy under the
command of the Aetolian chief Thoas, the son (not the grandson) of Oeneus. (Hom.
Il. ii. 639, comp. xiii. 217, xiv. 116.) Ephorus related that the Curetes were
expelled from Pleuronia, which was formerly called Curetis, by Aeolians (ap. Strab.
x. p. 465); and this tradition may also be traced in the statement of Thucydides
(iii. 102) that the district, called Calydon and Pleuronia in the time of the
Peloponnesian War, formerly bore the name of Aeolis. Since Pleuron appears as
an Aetolian city in the later period of the heroic age, it is represented in some
traditions as such from the beginning. Hence it is said to have derived its name
from Pleuron, a son of Aetolus ; and at the very time that some legends represent
it as the capital of the Curetes, and engaged in war with Oeneus, king of Calydon,
others suppose it to have been governed by the Aetolian Thestius, the brother
of Oeneus. Thestius was also represented as a descendant of Pleuron; and hence
Pleuron had an heroum or a chapel at Sparta, as being the ancestor of Leda, the
daughter of Thestius. But there are all kinds of variations in these. traditions.
Thus we find in Sophocles Oeneus, and not Thestius, represented as king of Pleuron.
(Apollod. i. 7. § 7; Paus. iii. 14. § 8; Soph. Trach. 7.) One of the tragedies
of Phrynichus, the subject of which appears to have been the death of Meleager,
the son of Oeneus, was entitled Pleuroniai, or the Pleuronian Women; and hence
it is not improbable that Phrynichus, as well as Sophocles, represented Oeneus
as king of Pleuron. (Paus. x. 31. § 4.) Pleuron is rarely mentioned in the historical
period. It was abandoned by its inhabitants, says Strabo, in consequence of the
ravages of Demetrius, the Aetolian, a surname probably given to Demetrius II.,
king of Macedonia (who reigned B.C. 239 - 229), to distinguish him from Demetrius
Poliorcetes. (Strab. x. p. 451.) The inhabitants now built the town of
2. New Pleuron (he neotera Pleuron which was situated at the foot of Mt.
Aracynthus. Shortly before the destruction of Corinth (B.C. 146), we find Pleuron,
which was then a member of the Achaean League, petitioning the Romans to be dissevered
from it. (Paus. vii. 11. § 3.) Leake supposes, on satisfactory grounds, the site
of New Pleuron to be represented by the ruins called to Kastron tes Kurias Eirenes,
or the Castle of Lady Irene about one hour's ride from Mesolonghi. These ruins
occupy the broad summit of one of the steep and rugged heights of Mt. Zyqos (the
ancient Aracynthus), which bound the plain of Mesolonghi to the north. Leake says
that the walls were about a mile in circumference, but Mure and Dodwell describe
the circuit as nearly two miles. The most remarkable remains within the ruined
walls are a theatre about 100 feet in diameter, and above it a cistern, 100 feet
long, 70 broad, and 14 deep, excavated on three sides in the rock, and on the
fourth constructed of masonry. In the acropolis Leake discovered some remains
of Doric shafts of white marble, which he conjectures to have belonged to the
temple of Athena, of which Dicaearchus speaks (1. 55) ; but the temple mentioned
by Dicaearchus must have been at Old Pleuron, since Dicaearchus was a contemporary
of Aristotle and Theophrastus, and could not have been alive at the time of the
foundation of New Pleuron. Dodwell, who visited the ruins of this city, erroneously
maintains that they are those of Oeniadae, which were, however, situated among
the marshes on the other side of the Achelous. Leake places Old Pleuron further
south, at a site called Ghyfto-kastro, on the edge of the plain of Mesolonghi,
where there are a few Hellenic remains.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
A city of Aetolia, below the river Evenus, and between that
stream and the sea. It was famed in Grecian story on account of the boar-hunt
in its neighbourhood, the theme of poetry from Homer to Statius. We are told by
mythologists that Oeneus, the father of Meleager and Tydeus, reigned at Calydon,
while his brother Agrius settled in Pleuron. Frequent wars, however, arose between
them on the subject of contiguous lands. Some time after the Peloponnesian War,
we find Calydon in the possession of the Achaeans. It is probable that the Calydonians
themselves invited over the Achaeans, to defend them against the Acarnanians.
Their city was, in consequence, occupied by an Achaean garrison, until Epaminondas,
after the battle of Leuctra, compelled them to evacuate the place. It was still
a town of importance during the Social War, and as late as the time of Caesar.
Augustus accomplished its downfall by removing the inhabitants to Nicopolis.
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PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
An ancient city in Aetolia, situated at a little distance from
the coast. It was abandoned by its inhabitants when Demetrius II., king of Macedonia,
laid waste the surrounding country, and a new city was built under the same name
near the ancient one. The two cities are distinguished by geographers under the
names of Old Pleuron and New Pleuron respectively.
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KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
City of Aetolia
on the northern coast of the western part of the gulf
of Corinth.
In mythology, Calydon was founded by a king by that name, one of the
sons of Aetolus and of Pronoe, the daughter of Phorbas. Calydon had only daughters,
one of which, Epicaste, married Agenor, the son of her uncle Pleuron. Thus, Agenor
became king of Pleuron and
Calydon, as was his son Porthaon after him. In the next generation, Pleuron became
the kingdom of Thestius, the son of Ares and of Porthaon's sister Demonice, while
Calydon remained the kingdom of Oeneus, Porthaon's son.
Oeneus first married Althaea, the daughter of Thestius, and they had
two children, Meleagrus and Deiareina. Once grown up, Meleagrus took the lead
in an episode called the hunt of Calydon, which tells the story of the hunt of
a monstrous boar sent by Artemis in the country of Calydon after Oeneus had forgotten
to name her in a thanksgiving ceremony at the end of the crops. To try and get
rid of the beast, Meleagrus called upon heroes from all around Greece
to come and help him in the hunt.
After Althaea had died, Oeneus married Periboea, daughter of Hipponous,
with whom he had a son, Tydeus. When Tydeus reached adulthood, he killed his brother
and had to leave his country. He eventually arrived at the court of Adrastus in
Argos at the same time as
Polynices, the exiled son of Oedipus deprived of his share of kingship by his
brother. Adrastus greeted them both, purified Tydeus of his crime and gave one
of his daughters in marriage to each, promissing to help them recapture their
throne. This is why Tydeus got involved in the expedition of the seven against
Thebes, where he died, and
his son Diomedes, who was thus also a grandson of Adrastus by his mother Deipyle,
became king of Argos and
participated in the victorious expedition of the Epigones against Thebes.
Diomedes was also involved in a fight against the sons of Agrius,
a brother of Oeneus, who had helped their father take over the throne of Calydon
from an aging Oeneus unable to defend himself. Diomedes killed all but two of
them who had fled in Peloponnese,
and handed Oeneus' kingdom over to Andraemon, the husband of Oeneus' daughter
Gorge.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
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PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
City of Aetolia
on the northern coast of the gulf of Patrae.
In mythology, Pleuron was founded by a king by that name, one of the
sons of Aetolus, the eponym of the Aetolians, himself a son of Endymion, king
of Elis, and of Pronoe, the
daughter of Phorbas and sister of Augeas, another king of Elis.
Pleuron was the brother of Calydon, who founded the nearby city by that name.
He married Xanthippe, the daughter of Dorus (the eponym of the Dorians). They
had several sons, starting with Agenor, who married Epicaste, the daughter of
Calydon, to become king of Pleuron and Calydon
(Calydon had no sons).
Agenor was the father of Porthaon, who succeded him, and of Demonice,
who was loved by Ares and became the mother of Thestius. Thestius became king
of Pleuron while Oeneus, the son of Porthaon, became king of Calydon.
Thestius was the father of, among others, Althaea and Leda. Althaea became the
wife of her uncle Oeneus and the mother of Meleagrus and Deiareina (one of Heracles'
wives), while Leda became the wife of Tyndareus, the king of Sparta,
while he was in exile at the court of her father after having been unseated by
his half-brother Hippocoon. Leda was loved by Zeus under the appearance of a swan
and was the mother of Castor and Pollux, Helen and Clytaemnestra.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
ETOLIKO (Town) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
A densely inhabited island in the salt lake of Messolongi.
It is connected with the land by a bridge made of stone, 300m. long and 8m. wide.
It was built in 1898. It is 12km. from Messolongi and it has 5,381 residents.
It is an old naval town with vivid colors and a picturesque style. It is known
for its heroic resistance to the Turks, especially during the second siege of
Messolongi.
Sights
The church of the Assumption of the Holy Mother. It was built on the
ruins of an old Christian church. The two assemblies of the representatives from
Roumeli took place here. In this church, there is also a picture of the Holy Mother,
which has become red because of the many swearing of Karaiskaki.
The Taxiarhon's church which was destroyed by a bomb in 1823. There
is a well with water in the church. At the yard there is the grave of lady Vassiliki,
the great love of Ali Pasha.
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INIADES (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Oiniadai, though unhealthily situated and inaccessible in winter,
was strategically important as the key to South Akarnania. It was taken after
a siege in 455 BC. by exiled Messenians established at Nafpaktos,
and attacked in vain by Pericles in 453. Demosthenes in 424 forced it to join
the Athenian alliance. It fell to the Aitolians in 336 and, without bloodshed,
to Philip V in 219. The Romans captured it eight gears later and handed it over
to the Aitolian League. The town was restored to the Akarnanians in 189.
The entrance to Oiniadai is by the east wall near a cottage. The closely
jointed polygonal masonry is of the 6th century BC. To the south are the main
Gate, one of many with arched openings, a feature unusual in Greek architecture,
and the Acropolis. In the other direction are the remains of a small theatre,
having 27 rows of seats; inscriptions on the lowest three rows record the freeing
of slaves and date the building (late 3rd century BC). Farther north are remarkable
vestiges of the Docks reconstructed by Philip V. Here are a buttressed quay, porticoes
surrounding a basin hewn in the rock, berths with traces of the rings to which
the ships were moored, and their slipways. To the southwest of the port are some
remains of baths of Greek construction.
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MESSOLONGI (Town) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Messolonghi is the capital of the county of Etoloakarnania.
In the ensuing years, the town of Messolongi was the birhplace of
5 famous Prime Ministers, many people of history, many poets, artists and scientists,
architects and literate men. It developed as a tourist attraction, being a town
symbolizing freedom and a place where there were many memorials in the Garden
of Heroes .
Everywhere memories of the 1821 uprising are revived especially when
we see all the monuments of Philhellenes, heroes, the tombs of Markos Botsaris,
Kyriakos Mavromihalis, to the Swiss Philhellene Johann-Jacob Mayer and other Greek
heroes and the heroic English Philhellene and poet Lord Byron whose last breath
was left in Messolongi. The busts and the monuments of the heroes offer an image
of the town, light as opposed to dark, and civilization as opposed to barbarism.
The museum of History
and Art is the second interesting place to visit and is situated in the center
of the square of Markos Botsaris and it is in the building which was the Town
Hall. The building was erected in 1932, here we see a rich selection of paintings
both by Greek and foreign painters, who are inspired by the struggle and the Exodus
of Messolongi.
At the entrance are the busts of the Messolongi men who became Prime
Ministers of Greece, e.g. Harilaos Trikoupis and Epaminondas Deligiorgis. Within
you will find the bust of the historic Prime Minister Spiridon Trikoupi and paintings
of the Greek Revolution. In a prominent position are big paintings of the blowing
up of the armament by Christo Kapsali, the freedom which rises from the ruins
of Messolongi by the French painter Delacroix, the welcome of Lord Byron to Messolongi,
the heroic Exodus of Messolongi, the marvellous painting by the French artist
Delansac, depicting the self sacrifice of woman Messolonghite and the emotional
picture of the Exodus which is paraded during the annual festivity of Exodus which
takes place on Saturday, Lazarus Day and on Palm Sunday.
In the museum there is also a room dedicated exclusively to Lord Byron,
with oil paintings, letters, portraits of the poet, the people that he met, the
places he visited during his stay in Greece and which he expressed in his poems,
personal items and letters specifically of his Philhellene efforts. In a prominent
position is his statue which was donated by the Canadian Embassy. The noble family
of Palamanians had its impact as well. At a house which stands out architecturally,
the ancestor of the Palamanians, Panagiotis Palamas was born in 1722 and was considered
as the teacher of the Greek origins. Our National poet Kostis Palamas stayed in
this same house when he became an orphan, in 1865. Both his parents died and he
went to the house of his father's brother Demetrios Palamas. Here he stayed until
he completed his education and wrote his first poems. In the halls, the corridors
and balcony conservatory of the house, one finds personal items, paintings, documents
from his life and great deeds. Opposite this house, is the house which is the
birthplace of the politician Spiridon Trikoupis and where Harilaos Trikoupis,
the great modern politician of Greece, lived.
It is not by chance that the 2 facets of modern Greece met at the
same place, the political and the poetic, Harilaos Trikoupis the politician and
Kostas Palamas the poet, their houses neighboring each other in the old part of
the city.
A lot of places remind and stir the emotions of many visitors such
as the neighborhood of Kapsali, the position of the house of Lord Byron, the noble
house of John Trikoupi which is situated at the end of Mayer road near the "first
arch", the noble house of Zafirio or Zinovio Valvi, where the public library
is housed, and the local historical center. The position of the house of Bishop
Josef of Rogon near the Xenokratio public school, the windmill, the small church
of Panagia of Phoenekia, 2 km outside Messolongi, where Lord Byron often visited
and the historic Monastery
of Agios Simeon which is 8 km from Messolongi.
Every year on the Saturday of Lazarus and on Palm Sunday, Messolongi
and the whole nation honors the big sacrifice of the heroic Exodus of Messolongi
as the poet and academic Nikiforos Vretakos said, "Everyone from around the
nation must fervently and wholeheartedly congregate around Messolongi with faith."
It should be essential for the children of all schools in the country
to orientate themselves towards Messolongi for a moment of silence and remembrance.
After the Parthenon of Athens and St Sophia of Constantinople, Messolongi is also
considered a great place.
During Pentecost there is great joyfulness, music, laughter and bands
especially at the well known National religious festival of St. Simeon.
Apart from the historical side of Messolongi, it is also a unique
aquatic place whereby it provides a lot of sanctuaries for flora and fauna and
is a main source of common salt, supplying all Greece. Rare types of birds like
Nanoglarona (dwarf seagulls), Kalamokanaves (long-legged birds), water swallows,
mollusc (mussel) eating birds, sphirichtres (whistling sea-birds) koridali (yellow
type of finch) and so many others nesting on the bushes of the sea lakes.
It is indeed those sea lakes that give the town its beauty and make
it the fish-producing center of Greece. The fisherman's life, the type of fishing
and the unique sunset attract many visitors. In older times, barges were propelled
by sails but now only a few enthusiasts use them.
The local cuisine consists mainly of fish, so plentifully available
from the lakes, every type of fish in its season has a special local recipe and
one can taste these things in restaurants and ouzeri (ouzo taverns) in the town.
It is famous for fish roe from the female kefalo during the month of August. The
magical road of 5 km jutting into the sea leads us to the coast of the Patraic
Gulf with its beautiful beach of Tourlida.
There the visitors can combine swimming and fishing. Those who suffer from certain
ailments benefit from the spa waters of Agia
Triada (Holy Trinity) at the historic small island called Klisovas just before
reaching Tourlida.
Generally Messolongi is a universal symbol of the struggle of nations
for dignity and freedom, and it offers great pportunities for further touristic
promotion.
This text is cited December 2004 from the West Greece Region General Secretariat URL below, which contains images.
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Total results on 4/5/2001: 121 for Calydon, 32 for Kalydon, 4 for Calydona.
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
Total results on 24/4/2001: 75 for Pleuron.
ALIKARNA (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
INIADES (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
It is situated on a hill surrounded by the waters of the ancient Melite lake (today Lesini).
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
There are remains of the ancient city of Pleuron, which was destroyed by Demetrius in 234 B.C.
There are remains of the posterior city of Pleuron. The castle was named after Irini, wife of the Emperor of Byzantium Andronikos.
INIADES (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Located in N Greece, in Akarnania at the mouth of the Acheloos river.
The city first appears in history in the 5th c. B.C. when it was apparently already
at least partially fortified. A friend of the Peloponnesian League, Oiniadai had
to withstand pressure from Athens, including at least one siege conducted by Pericles.
It held out, but eventually joined the Athenian League in 424. The city from this
time on remained under Athenian influence and was a member of the second Athenian
Confederacy in the 4th c. The Hellenistic period was marked by warfare with the
Aitolians, until Philip V freed the city from their control in 219. Oiniadai reverted
to Aitolia under the Romans but became Akarnanian again in 189. Its history under
Roman rule is unclear.
The walls are particularly well preserved, extending some 6.5 km in
length with a number of well-preserved gates and sally ports. Two types of masonry
are employed, polygonal and trapezoidal. Latest research on the chronology of
the fortifications leans to the opinion that the polygonal walls are datable to
the period of Athenian pressure in the latter half of the 5th c., and that the
circuit underwent modifications in the Hellenistic period.
Excavations in 1900-1901 revealed a number of important buildings.
A Greek bath complex was found, consisting of two round rooms with basins and
a number of other rooms, at least one of which had a large bathtub. The date appears
to be the second half of the 3d c. B.C. This is probably about the time of the
rebuilding in the theater of Oiniadai, which was partially excavated. At this
time a proskenion was placed in front of an earlier stage building, which may
have been originally erected in the 4th c. B.C. A row of four stone blocks within
the present scene building probably marks the original front wall of the earlier
skene. In the excavated portion of the cavea, some of the stone seats were found
to have manumission inscriptions, datable to the 3d or 2d c. B.C., cut into their
upper surfaces. Some remodeling was apparently undertaken in the early Roman period,
and there is also some indication of a later reconstruction in the bath complex.
On the E side of the entrance to the harbor, the excavators with some
difficulty identified what they considered a combination naval storage building
and ship shed composed of five slipways for the careening and storage of vessels.
Minor buildings uncovered include a small temple on a promontory W of the harbor
and a private house on another hill.
W. R. Biers, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 6 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
KALYDON (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
An ancient city in Aitolia near the N coast of the gulf of Patras,
at the entrance to the gulf of Corinth, on the S ridges of Mt. Arakynthos. It
is mentioned in the Iliad where it is the scene of the struggle between Herakles
and the river god Acheloos, and of the hunt for the Kalydonian boar.
The city lay on a hill with two summits and in the valley below. There
are a few remains of the circuit walls dating from the beginning of the 3d c.
B.C.; the perimeter was ca. 4 km and there were occasional towers. The acropolis,
to the NW, was well fortified and had a double gate flanked by two towers; inside
this was a large inner courtyard. The road to Stratos, the ancient capital of
Akarnania, left the city through that gate. The W gate was also handsome and well
fortified; it was on the axis of the Via Sacra, 400 m long, which led to Laphrion,
the sacred precinct situated on a narrow plateau and probably dedicated in the
8th c. B.C. to the worship of Artemis and Apollo.
Various periods of construction in Laphrion are distinguishable. Two
Doric temples in antis date from the end of the 7th c. B.C.; Temple A was dedicated
to Apollo (or Dionysos?) and Temple B to Artemis. Remains of Temple B include
terracotta decorations (sima, antefixes, akroteria, and metopes). Between the
first decade and the second half of the 6th c. these two temples were refaced.
To that period belongs a series of terracotta metopes from Temple A, painted with
mythological figures whose Corinthian origin is confirmed by letters in the Corinthian
alphabet incised before the metopes were fired. From Temple B in the same period
come antefixes with anthemia, an akroteria with sphinxes, and metopes that depict
the Labors of Herakles. About 500 B.C. Temple B was enclosed by a portico. Two
other small buildings belong to the 6th c.; one of them, an apsidal structure,
yielded numerous votive offerings to Artemis and Dionysos.
At the beginning of the 4th c. B.C. the entire zone was remodeled
and buttressed by massive ramparts. A portico was built to the SE, with six columns
along the front, and ca. 360 a peripteral Doric temple in poros, with 6 by 13
columns, arose on the site of the Temple of Artemis. It had a marble roof, gutters
with spouts representing dogs' heads, and sculptured metopes (only a single undecipherable
one remains). In the cella, which probably had 20 channeled Ionic columns, stood
the chryselephantine statue of Artemis, the work of Menaechmos and Soidas of Naupaktos
(460 B.C.) mentioned by Pausanias (7.18.10). This statue is believed to be represented
on some coins of Patras. An altar, an exedra, and an entrance propylon are of
the same date as the temple. In the Hellenistic period, N of the sacred precinct,
a large square was built; it had a long stoa with two aisles, probably further
divided into different lanes and decorated at the ends by two large semicircular
niches (3d-2d c. B.C.). To the W of the square stairs led to the valley of the
Kallirhoe river.
In the remaining area, limited to the N by the city gate and to the
S by a slope, the remains of a series of small archaic thesauroi have yielded
abundant terracotta objects and some Hellenistic tombs. The most important of
these, in a valley to the SE, is the heroon, also called the Leonteion after its
owner, Leon of Kalydon. It is a rectangular building (37.5 x 34.4 m) dating from
ca. 100 B.C., with rooms on three sides, and promenades, around a square peristyle
(16.78 m on a side). The largest room, to the N, has at least 11 large medallions
on the walls, on which are carved the gods and heroes of the legendary history
of Kalydon. An arch on the N side of the room leads to a small chamber below which
is the hypogeum, with a barrel vault and marble sarcophagi in the form of beds.
A second heroon has been discovered in the valley of the Kallirhoe.
The decline of Kalydon began in the Roman era during the struggle
between Caesar and Pompey, when the city was occupied by Pompey's followers. In
30 B.C. the inhabitants of Kalydon were transferred to Nikopolis. The major terracotta
finds, marvelous documents of archaic Corinthian painting, are in the National
Museum at Athens. The stone gate of the crypt of the heroon is also there.
L. Vlad Borrelli, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Oct 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
PEANION (Ancient city) IERA POLIS MESSOLONGIOU
Located about 500 m N of Mastru village, on a low scrub-covered chain
of hills a short distance E of the Acheloos. The identification of the ruins as
those of the Aitolian town of Paianion is now widely accepted. Paianion appears
only once in ancient literature, in Polybios' account of the expedition of Philip
V in 219 B.C. Philip stormed the town, razed its walls, houses, and other buildings,
and floated the stone and other materials downstream, to be reused at Oiniadai.
The sequence of sites and events in Polybios, together with the ancient sites
now identifiable on the E bank of the Acheloos, suggests that the Paliokastro
of Mastru must be Paianion.
Polybios gives the length of the circuit as less than seven stades;
the Mastru Circuit is given as 500 m by Kirsten, 850 m by Konstas. The presence
of houses at Paianion indicates an urban settlement; at Mastru there seem to be
remains inside the walls, many graves have been found at the foot of the hill,
and chance finds go back to Subgeometric. Unfortunately no coins or inscriptions
giving the ancient name have come to light. The name Paianion probably derives
from Paian, indicating a special relationship to Apollo; but no temple is known.
Konstas thinks the extant walls predate 219 B.C.; Kirsten, more plausibly,
dates them after the destruction by Philip V.
F. E. Winter, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
PLEVRON (Ancient city) ETOLOAKARNANIA
The city is in Aitolia-Akarnania. The name refers to two settlements,
the older of which was at the foot of Mt. Kurios (Strab. 10.451) between the river
Acheloos and the river Euenos, and was mentioned by Homer (Il. 2.638).
Pleuron, according to Strabo, was founded by the Kouretes; or Thoas,
son of Aeneas, guided the Aitolians there (10.461). When Demetrios II of Macedonia
destroyed Pleuron the inhabitants founded a new city on the uplands of Arakinthos,
which had the protection of Rome before the taking of Corinth. During the Imperial
age the uprisings in Aitolia continued. The ruins of the more ancient city are
N of the newer one and cosist of a few remnants of Cyclopean walls. Nea Pleuron
has been identified on the Arakinthos (Zygos) in the locality of the castle of
Kurias Eirenes.
The city wall is a large rectangule with seven gates and 31 towers
served by stairways. The masonry is partly trapezoidal and partly peudo-isodomic
with squared faces, well preserved almost everywhere, and datable to ca. 230 B.C.
The acropolis occupies the upper part of the site, but little of it remains. A
Byzantine chapel was built on the remains of the Temple of Athena. The actual
city occupies a vast terrace 243 m above sea level, with which it is linked N-S
by a defense wall that also encircles the port. The civil buildings are to the
S. The theater is in the SW part of the city with the proscenium leaning against
the inside surface of the city wall. The central part of the building housing
the skene is a tower. The proscenium had six columns, and the parascenia must
have been elevated above it and must have leaned against the wall. The circle
of the orchestra is tangent to the skene building. The cavea, well preserved at
the N, had five sections and six staircases. The construction of the theater is
contemporary with that of the walls.
Several other areas are recognizable within the city walls, including
the site of the agora, with a stoa oriented N-S and ca. 62 m long, and the plan
of the gymnasium. To the SE was a large communal cistern (30 x 20 m) with five
rectangular basins. There are also remains of unidentifiable public buildings
and rather extensive remnants of houses and cisterns. The necropoleis extend to
the S of the terrace occupied by the city.
N. Bonacasa, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Oct 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 2 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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