MISSOLONGHI, or Mesolonghi (M∈σ-oλoγγιbv), a city of Greece, the chief town of the nomarchy of Acarnania and Aetolia, situated on the north side of the Gulf of Patras, about 7 miles from the coast, in the midst of a shallow lagoon, with a population of 6324 in 1879, is notable for the siege of two months which Mavrocordatos with a handful of men sustained in 1821 against a Turkish army 11,000 strong, and for the more famous defence of 1825-26 (see vol. xi. p. 125). Byron died there in 1824, and is commemorated by a cenotaph.