INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
“200 YEARS SINCE THE EXODUS OF MESSOLONGHI: HISTORY, MEMORY, LEGACY”

The year 2026 marks the bicentennial of the heroic Exodus of Messolonghi, a defining event of the Greek Revolution that profoundly moved international public opinion and proved a turning point in the struggle for Greek independence. To commemorate this momentous event, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in collaboration with the University of Patras, is organizing an international scholarly conference entitled “200 Years since the Exodus of Messolonghi: History, Memory, Legacy”, to be held in the Sacred City of Messolonghi from October 1 to 4, 2026.

The conference seeks a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach to the siege and Exodus of Messolonghi as a historical event that in its time resonated powerfully in international public opinion and became, through its numerous representations in letters and the arts, a preeminent locus of global Philhellenism. The Exodus remains a living point of reference in Greek and world historical and cultural memory and continues to be variously thematized in literature and the arts.

These two dimensions will be explored in the conference’s two sections: “Messolonghi and Greece” and “Messolonghi and the World”, which focus indicatively on the following themes:

  • New historiographical approaches and previously unknown sources relating to the siege of Messolonghi
  • The siege of Messolonghi and its impact on diplomacy
  • Military history and siege tactics
  • The international resonance of the siege of Messolonghi in public opinion and the press
  • Messolonghi and the rekindling of the Philhellenic movement
  • Messolonghi as a symbol of freedom in European thought
  • The influence of the Exodus on the formation of national identity and consciousness
  • Multidirectional memory and transhistorical dialogues: Messolonghi and other sites of resistance to the utmost in Europe and the world
  • The ethical dimension of struggle unto death, of sacrifice and self-sacrifice
  • Forms of social organization among the besieged
  • The role of women in the defense and the Exodus
  • Daily life during the siege
  • Sites and rituals of memory
  • Anthropological and ethnographic approaches to the memory of the Exodus
  • The Exodus of Messolonghi in Greek letters and the arts
  • Literary, visual, musical, theatrical, and cinematic representations of the siege and Exodus in Europe and the world
  • The presence and death of Lord Byron in Messolonghi: aspects and impact of a myth
  • Digital representations and applications for enhancing historical memory
  • Innovative museological approaches