Spinalonga: A tiny islet with a storied past

Bearing the ancient name Kalydon, the island flourished during the Venetian rule, when it was named Spinalonga, after the Latin phrase “spina lunga”, which translated to long thorn. Between 1579 and 1586, the Venetians built one of their most prominent Cretan castles over the ruins of the Hellenistic castle, in order to protect the port of Elounda, a centre of maritime trade, and in order to safeguard the salt-pans that supplied Europe.

Strong fortification allowed Spinalonga to remain under Venetian rule for 65 years after the Turks had occupied the rest of Crete (1649); this was until 1715, when the Turks finally managed to breach its impenetrable walls and turn it into an Ottoman settlement. The Turks gradually revived the island’s commercial role, thus initiating a prosperous period that was abruptly interrupted by the Cretan Revolution of 1896, which led most of its inhabitants to abandon Spinalonga.

Despite its turbulent century-long history, Spinalonga owes most of its current reputation to its notorious early 20th century phase: in 1903, the Cretan State instituted the conversion of the island into a public leprosarium, gathering all Cretans suffering from the then untreatable Hansen’s disease and, subsequently, lepers from all over Greece, who lived pretty much in exile.

Living standards in this completely isolated “leper town” were vividly described in the popular novel The Island by British author Victoria Hislop (and its popular TV adaptation), which breathed new life into Spinalonga and its recently restored settlement.