Today, Spinalonga, a tiny (400m x 200 m), teardrop-shaped island in eastern Crete, about 12 km north of Agios Nikolaos, is best-known for its recent history (1903-1957) as a leper colony, made famous by the British writer Victoria Hilsop in her novel The Island (2005).
The now uninhabited island draws between 1,500 and 2,000 visitors daily during the summer, making it the 2nd most-visited archeological site in Crete after Knossos. It is an arid, rocky, and well-fortified islet. The fortifications were built by the Venetians, who recognized Spinalonga's strategic significance at the northern end of Mirabello Bay, which is also the entrance to Elounda harbor, a long inlet ending at the town of Elounda, 5 km to the south. The Venetians built blockhouses on the island's high points at its north and south end, on top of the ruins of an ancient acropolis, and a ring wall around the entire perimeter of the island to prevent invaders from even disembarking.
The Venetians put up their fortifications in 1579, atop the ruins of an ancient acropolis. The Ottomans took over Crete in 1669, but the Venetians on Spinalonga held out for another 46 years, until 1715. It was the last vestige of the Venetian presence on Crete.
During the Cretan Revolt (1866-1869), the fort at Spinalonga, along with one at Ierapetra, becamev a place of refuge for Ottoman families fearing that Christians would seek reprisals for their previous 2 centuries of treatment. The Ottomans survived, and finally left Crete for good in 1913, when Crete united with greater Greece. They had moved off of Spinalonga in the meantime, which became a leper colony in 1903.
Spinalonga was one of the last leper colonies in Europe. Although it officially closed in 1957, it was not until 1962 that its last inhabitant, an Orthodox priest, left. He had been performing liturgical services for the dead, which in the Orthodox Church are performed at 5 different intervals after burial, the last one being 5 years after death.
Boats to the small island can be found from Agios Nikolaos and Elounda, and Plaka, a village about 1 km opposite Spinalonga across the mouth of the harbor.
