The holy city of Mesolongi is 60 km from Villa Grecorama.
Mesolongi is the city symbol of the Revolution of 1821. The Holy City of the struggle of Greek Independence against the Ottoman Empire, which led to the creation of the modern Greek state, is also a supranational symbol of the struggle for freedom.
The "Dapia", the humble wall with the cannons that surrounds the city, the "Garden of Heroes" with the monuments of Byron, the Greeks and the heroes of the exit, the house of the chief of 1821 Athanasios Razi-Kotsikas and his weapons Dimitriou Makri, among them the famous "Liaros", his silver carnation, remind today of the great events of the "Free Besieged".
The siege of Messolonghi began on April 5, 1825 by the Turks of Kiutahi and was reinforced by the Egyptian forces of Ibrahim, on December 25, 1825. The besieged, after enduring the raids for a whole year, were defeated by the last, unbearable defeat. due to exclusion.
Instead of surrendering, they decided to take the step of despair, on the night of Lazarus Saturday to Palm Sunday (April 9-10, 1826). At midnight, according to the plan, they were divided into three groups, under Dimitrios Makris, Notis Botsaris and Kitsos Tzavelas, hoping to break through the enemy lines, taking advantage of the siege surprise. With the warriors naked in their arms and the women and children in the middle of each phalanx, the skeletal defenders of the city were thrown at the enemy from three sides.
The Turks were not surprised and the exit turned into a massacre. Back in the city, the prominent Christos Kapsalis, not being able to take part in the exit, blew up the gunpowder depot of Botsaris bastion, leading to the death of an old man, women and children and the disabled, but also a large number of Turkish invaders.
Of the 3,000 who took part in the exit, 1,700 fell fighting heroically. Among the dead, prominent Greek chiefs and nobles, the German publisher of the newspaper "Hellenic Chronicles" Iakovos Meyer and other philhellenes. Around 6,000 women and children were taken to the slave markets of the East to be sold.
Even today, the honorary events for the exit are attended every year, among others, by a large number of Mesolonghi and other Greeks with skirts and traditional armament of ’21 in honor of the dead of the exit.
Today's city maintains the quiet atmosphere of the lagoon that surrounds it. The old houses of Palamas and Charilaos Trikoupis, the ouzo bars with eels, the small wooden huts of the lagoon, the famous "pelades", make the visit to Mesolongi a small journey in history.