Tourlida () is an island in

Missolonghi Lagoon The Missolonghi Lagoon (, ''Limnothalassa Mesolongiou'') is a shallow lagoon located in the south of Aetolia-Acarnania, Western Greece. It is connected with the Gulf of Patras, a bay of the Ionian Sea. It has a triangular shape and its width vari ...

, in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is a long-narrow earthy land about 5 km south of

Missolonghi Missolonghi or Mesolongi (, ) is a municipality of 32,048 people (according to the 2021 census) in western Greece. The town is the capital of Aetolia-Acarnania regional unit, and the seat of the municipality of Iera Polis Mesolongiou (). Missolon ...

. Tourlida is the largest lagoon island of Missolonghi lagoon and the only inhabited. Its population is 15 inhabitants according to 2011 census. A landmark of Tourlida is the houses on piles. They are

stilt houses Stilt houses (also called pile dwellings or lake dwellings) are houses raised on stilts (or piles) over the surface of the soil or a body of water. Stilt houses are built primarily as a protection against flooding; they also keep out vermin. The ...

that are built by fishermen. These houses are named Pelades (Πελάδες) in Greek.

History

Tourlida is named after the bird

Eurasian curlew The Eurasian curlew or common curlew (''Numenius arquata'') is a very large wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across temperate Europe and Asia. In Europe, this species is often referred ...

that is named tourlida in Greek and it is common in lagoon. The island was joined with the opposite land with a road that was constructed in 1885 thanks to domestic politician

Charilaos Trikoupis Charilaos Trikoupis (; 11 July 1832 – 30 March 1896) was a Greek politician who served as a Prime Minister of Greece seven times from 1875 until 1895. He is best remembered for introducing the vote of confidence in the Greek constitution, p ...

. The road created an interior lagoon inside

, known as Kleisova Lagoon. The most common activity in the island is the fishing as well as the gathering of salt from the nearby salt pit.

Historical population

References

{{reflist Islands of Greece Missolonghi Populated places in Aetolia-Acarnania