Tiny Spinalonga Island and its fortress lie in a picturesque setting just off the northern tip of the Kolokytha Peninsula and opposite the onshore village of Plaka. With the explosion of interest in Spinalonga in the wake of Victoria Hislop’s romantic novel The Island (in Greek To Nisi ), about the island’s time as a leper colony, you’re unlikely to feel lonely on the island. There’s a reconstructed section of a street from the period featured in the novel, and although tour group leaders stir up a fine old babel, you can still enjoy a very pleasant stroll round the island, passing evocative ruins of churches, turrets and other buildings.
The Venetians built the formidable fortress in 1579 to protect the bays of Elounda and Mirabello. Spinalonga finally surrendered to Ottoman forces in 1715.
From 1903 until 1955, during the post-Ottoman era, the island was a colony where Greeks suffering from leprosy (Hansen’s disease) were quarantined. The early days of the colony were allegedly squalid and miserable. However, in 1953, the arrival of the charismatic Athenian sufferer and law student, Epaminondas Remoundakis, heralded the introduction of decent living conditions and of a redemptive spirit on the island. The colony finally closed in 1973. It is this dramatic and touching story around which Hislop weaves her tale.
The island had previously featured in a short film, Last Words, made in 1968 by Werner Herzog.
There’s a cafe and souvenir shops here. Regular excursion boats visit Spinalonga from Agios Nikolaos (from €15). Ferries also run from Elounda (€10) and Plaka (€10).
