a six minute read

Leprosy is probably not something on your ‘must do’ list when you are on holiday in Crete, but bear with me.  On the north-east coast of this beautiful island, in the Mirabello Bay, you’ll find Elounda.  This charming seaside village has a pretty marina, tavernas, cafes, and a perfectly family-friendly beach.  Along this stretch of coastline are Crete’s most exclusive five star hotels and accommodation, although thanks to sympathetic construction they are mostly tucked away, so you don’t have to see those rich folks enjoying themselves.

Travel five kilometres along the scenic bay-side road from Elounda and you’ll find the quaint fishing village of Plaka.  With its small collection of brightly coloured shell souvenir shops, cafes, and seafront tavernas, it’s a wonderful place for a Cretan seafood lunch and glass (or two) of village wine.  It would not have escaped your notice as you were nearing Plaka that directly opposite its tiny port, stood alone in the sea, is a rocky fortress.  This is Spinalonga, known to the natives as Kalydon, and it has a few tales to tell.

Boat trips leave from both Plaka and Elounda ports to Spinalonga Island.  When I first took the trip, some years ago now, I was sat on the boat next to a friendly lady who was excitedly clutching a paperback book.  “The Island” by Victoria Hislop tells the family saga of a woman quarantined on Spinalonga as a leper.  It’s a great tale, and the novel is an international bestseller which became a hugely popular televised series.  “Have you read it?” she asks.  I tell her I have.  It seems I’m not the only one on the boat that’s familiar with it either, and for the thirty minute journey a varied group of passengers form an impromptu International Book Club.  As the boat pulls up to dock we’re faced with citadel walls, and the archway entrance named by the lepers interred here as ‘Dante’s Gate’…. the entrance to hell.  Once through the passageway, friendly book-lady is mesmorised and wanders off, no doubt playing out favourite scenes in her head.

Spinalonga didn’t exist as an island until 1526, when occupying Venetians carved out the peninsula to create the 8.5 hectare lump of arid land.  At this time Elounda was a very lucrative salt pan, and Spinalonga perfectly placed for sea trade and as guardian of the bay entrance.  Fifty-two years later, when the Ottoman Empire started to flex their muscles, the Venetians began to build fortifications on the rock in anticipation of battle.  Following one of the longest sieges in history, Crete finally fell to the Ottomans in 1669.  However, they were unable to take control of Spinalonga since Christian and Cretan rebels had made it their base from where to torment the invaders.  Not until 1715 were the rebels defeated, and a thriving Muslim community settled here.  However, the Ottomans weren’t received well in Crete and fierce bloody revolutions were ongoing throughout their rule.  Eventually an internationally supported uprising in 1897 saw the end of their occupation.  They were expelled a year later, under protest, and Crete was officially declared an independent Greek state.

An alarming spread of leprosy bought about a government decree in 1901 for the compulsory isolation of all those infected.  Outcast from their communities, lepers had taken to living what life they had in the surrounding hills and caves.  Spinalonga became an official leper colony in 1903, and within a year was home to 148 men and 103 women.  Two years on saw inmate numbers grow to 954, as lepers were now being sent from mainland Greece and further abroad.  Crete was suffering financially, and although promised housing, water, food, and social security payments, in reality, the conditions were squalid and lepers were basically sent here to die.

A twenty-one year old law student named Epameinondas Remoundakis arrived from Athens in 1936.  Appalled by the conditions, he set about bringing the residents together, and formed the Fraternity of Spinalonga Patients in order to petition the government and demand change.  Thanks to their persistence, a school, infirmary, cinema, and a theatre, were all built on the island.  As their community developed the residents began to cultivate what land there was, they opened cafes and shops, created employment, white-washed their buildings, and even played classical music through loud-speakers on the streets.  Some fell in love, and although officially banned from doing so, they married and had children.

Thankfully, an effective cure for leprosy was found in the late 1940’s, and gradually patients were cured and able to leave.  Among them, Epameinondas Remoundakis, having lost his sister and his sight to the disease, was finally reunited with his family and lived into his 60’s.  The island officially closed as a leper colony in 1957, and the last 20 patients were taken to be treated in Athens.  According to Greek Orthodox law, the Priest of the island remained until 1962 to honour the fifth year anniversary of the final death.  He was the last resident of Spinalonga.

Nominated for UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status, Spinalonga is the most visited archealogical site in Crete after the palace of Knossos, and it’s easy to see why.  It is an ingenious, tragic, and atmospheric piece of history in an area of natural beauty.

I’m walking back towards Dante’s Gate when the friendly book-lady comes running up “You must come and see this!  It’s a child! There’s a footprint! Come and look!”, and she takes me by the arm.  We trot back to one of the restored buildings and sure enough, on the stone floor there is a faint outline.  “You can see it!  It’s a child’s footprint!  It’s a ghost!” and off she bolts to tell anyone she finds.  Now, whether the mark on the floor was indeed a child of Spinalonga whose spirit still plays around the tumbled remnants of the island, or whether someone had just dropped their sausage roll, I’m not one to say, but the return boat trip discussion of the International Book Club definitely took an excited twist.

Allow yourself at least an hour to walk the street all around the island.  You can visit the museum, see the tiny chapel, the cemetery, the fortress walls, and if feeling energetic, explore the rocky top.  Guided tours are available, and there is one cafe by the dock.  However it is an amazing place for a small picnic if you hadn’t had that fish lunch at Plaka beforehand.  With a tiny patch of beach, it is possible to go for a swim here, but that is at your own risk as there is no lifeguard, and I’d suggest sunblock, hat, and water as on those beautiful Cretan sunny days shade is hard to come by.

At time of writing, boat trips cost from €10 and the entrance fee through Dante’s Gate is €8.  It’s well worth it.