Messolonghi - Gulf of Patras

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Wed 29 Apr 2009 20:27
38:21.7N 21:25.0E

Wednesday 29th April
Last night we were kept awake for a good while by torrential rain, but
thankfully the morning dawned clear and bright with a clear blue sky.

Had 35 miles to cover today and were mindful that the Swedes who were moored
next to us, had been beaten back by fierce winds and tide when they had
tried to sail into the Gulf of Patras on Monday, so we made an early start.

Very uneventful trip with barely a breath of wind all the way and so arrived
at the entrance to the narrow buoyed channel that leads up to the lagoon and
marina belonging to the town of Messolonghi (various spellings!)

As soon as we get to a wifi point we will upload the photos we took here as
they tell the story slightly better, but the area is a series of huge
lagoons and is the largest area of wetlands in Greece and therefore home to
a huge array of birds and wildlife as well as fishing and fan mussel
farming.

The banks of the channel leading here are lined with shanty style
fisherman's huts on stilts (pelades) giving it an air of SE Asia, although
many of these have now been upgraded to holiday homes.

The 'marina' is fairly non-existent and seems to be part of a large EC
funded development of the waterfront which has stalled as there are plenty
of pontoons and quays, but everything else is run down or derelict. However,
we were greeted by a very cheerful chap who ushered us into a very good
alongside mooring and welcomed us to the town and the new marina. It
transpired that he is part of a group (Dutch and Greek) who have taken over
the development of the marina and he was at pains to explain all the plans
and charges! He proudly showed us the new billboard sign that was being
erected as we spoke, welcoming visitors to the marina. Mooring was free so
we were not about to complain, but there are no facilities at all here and
the concrete wasteland gives way to scrubland, currently patrolled by a pack
of 5 noisy feral dogs!

Messolonghi does also have an historic claim to fame and in 1937 was
declared a 'Sacred Town' for its part in the War of Independence. Its role
in that war is also entwined with the part played by Lord Byron who came
here in 1823 to help organise the Greek troops and raise International
support for the cause. He unfortunately died of a fever in 1844 and the town
which continued to defy a Turkish army of 30,000 held out for a further year
before it fell. 10,000 of the population choose to flee just before the town
fell and all but 1600 were killed. The remaining townspeople fired the
town's gunpowder reserves and munitions as the Turks came in and thousands
of men women and children all died. The Garden of Heroes celebrates their
heroism and as for Lord Byron, his actions led to the desired international
support. He became a Greek national hero and although his body was
returned to England his heart is buried here beneath his statue in the
Garden of Heroes.

(Sarah) I walked into the town which is apparently set out on a grid,
subsequently scrambled by the Greeks, so not as straightforward as you might
presume. It's a very large Greek town, lots of streets with closed shops
(pre-opening time?), very noisy bars filled with students - definitely not a
tourist trap. Everywhere is decorated with Greek flags for Labour Day on
Friday including some very beautiful churches.

I had set off with the intention of finding the Garden of Heroes with the
statue of Byron - by all accounts unmissable due to the brown tourist signs
of which I saw no sign! Eventually I stumbled upon it: a well set out
public garden (but fairly overgrown - I have a theory that perhaps the
Greeks don't bother with weeding, waiting for the summer sun to do its
worst?) with many marble statues to all sorts of fighters, and the women and
children who were slaughtered.

So then headed west towards more lagoon, which got progressively more
smelly, but with some interesting wading birds. This is a migration wetland
for many birds including the Dalmation Pelican - but we haven't seen any
yet!