Messolonghi is a municipality of 34,416 inhabitants in western Greece, while the town of Messolonghi has a population of 12,785 inhabitants. Messolonghi is the capital city of the regional unit of Aetolia-Acarnania, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis Messolongiou (Sacred Town of Messolonghi). The town is built on the aggrading arm formed between the homonymous lagoon of Messolonghi and the lagoon of Kleisova. Messolonghi is known as one of the areas of the dramatic siege during the Greek War of Independence, and the death of the poet Lord Byron.