The island of Spinalonga near Crete

The Venetians built a big fortress on this tiny island close to the town of Agios Nicolaos (in Crete). Here and in the villages of Elounda and Plaka you can find boats that visit the island for a daytrip. It's quite impressive. The fortress and the rest of the buildings are all in pretty good shape (there's also a renovation going on). Between 1903 and 1957 is was turned into a leper colony. Within the walls you will find the houses and the graves of the people that lived there and died there. The graves are small, about one metre by one metre, because after amputations not much was left of the inhabitants.

Spinalonga

Spinalonga is an island off the coast of Crete, near Elounda and Agios Nikolaos. It is a connected to the mainland with a dam. The island Kalidonia, with its Venetian fortress, is part of Spinalonga. The fortress, where also once a leprosy colony was established, is a major tourist attraction in Crete. Kalidonia lies on the northernmost tip of Spinalonga, a few tens of meters separated from the peninsula.

Spinalonga has not always been an island. On the shallow seabed between Elounda and Spina Longa archaeologists have found remnants of the ancient Greek city Olous.

The island Kalidonia

Kalidonia is an island just before the east coast of Crete in the Bay of Elounda. It has a length of 500 meters and the maximum width measures 200 meters. It is often referred to as Spinalonga, but that is actually a bigger peninsula to which Kalidonia belongs. Kalidonia is located on the northernmost tip of Spinalonga, and is separated from the mainland by a hundred meters of water.

On the island is a Venetian fortress that was built in 1579. It has the reputation of being unconquerable. This story has its roots in the reality. When the Turks in 1670 conquered the mainland of Crete, Kalidonia still remained in the hands of the Venetians for 45 years. They gave the island only to the Turks in 1715, after an agreement was made with the Venetians for a free retreat. The Turks did not keep their agreement and killed all the men of Kalidonia and the rest sold as slaves. When the mainland of Crete was no longer under Turkish influence, Kalidonia remained in Turkish hands. The Greeks solved this by turning Kalidonia into a leper colony, after which the Turks left the island.

On the foundations of the fortress a village was constructed in that in the early 20th century was inhabited by lepers. To prevent the disease in Crete and in other parts of Greece the sick were exiled to the island. In the heyday around 2000 patients stayed on the island on the island. In 1957, the last leprosy patient was transferred to a hospital and the island became uninhabited. Kalidonia is now a tourist attraction with a dubious past. Boats to Kalidonia depart regularly from Agios Nikolaos, Elounda and Plaka.