Spinalonga is one of the many monuments of Crete, with its own unique history. It is an ancient polis, a Venetian fortress and a leper sanctuary that impresses with the beauty of nature and the drama of the past.
Off the northeastern coast of ancient Crete is the small island of Spinalonga or Kalidon. Lost in the shadow of the other more famous sites of ancient civilizations, it surprises and even frightens with the intense drama of its centuries-old history.
The first settlers on these picturesque shores were the ancient Greeks. They founded the city of Olus, one of the many Greek colonies of antiquity. With the establishment of Roman rule, the polis became part of the vast empire of ancient Rome. Little has survived, such as the ruins of an early Christian basilica with a mosaic floor. In some places, the remains of previous structures protrude from the water. On a clear day they are visible at the bottom of the bay. In the 700 A.D. the settlement was destroyed by an earthquake. The remains sank to the bottom forming the present day landscape of the Spinalonga peninsula and the bay of the same name. In the Byzantine period on the shores of the bay a small port of Elounda appeared, the name derived from the ancient Greek Olus. In the XIII century the new owners of these places were the Venetians. Three centuries later, to protect the bay from the pirates they built fortifications and finally separated the peninsula from Crete by a canal. Thus appeared the island-fortress Spinalonga, which has become a place of pilgrimage for tourists.
But it's not only the sunken city of Olus and the old ruins that attract curious travelers. After liberation from Turkish rule in the early twentieth century, a leprosarium was established on Spinalong. The ancient fortress became the last resting place of the leprosy patients, who were brought here from all over Greece. The colony of terminally ill people was completely isolated. Doomed to lose all ties with their relatives and to die a slow death, the settlers were forced to create their own little world. It is said that at this time there were no mirrors on the island. Its new inhabitants did not want to see their reflection. To commemorate the suffering of the unfortunates, an art composition in the form of a mirror cross and many installations made from shards of mirrors was created on the grounds of the monument. On the highest point of the fortress you can see the figure of a soaring man. It is a reminder of the tragic fate of many of its inhabitants, who could not bear the separation from their loved ones and the slow waiting for death. Only with the invention of a cure for the deadly disease in the 1950s, the terrible colony ceased to exist, and the island of Spinalonga became a historical monument. Today it is one of the many monuments of the cradle of ancient civilizations, with one of the most dramatic histories. Its silent testimonies in the form of photographs and everyday objects are shown as part of the museum exhibitions, which are housed in the old buildings of the fortress.
You can visit the fortress on your own or as part of a tour group. The tour itinerary may include a visit to the island, swimming on the beach, a barbecue or lunch in a tavern.
There are regular boat trips to the island from Agios Nikolaos and the nearby settlements. You can get to the city from your hotel by tourist bus or by buying a sightseeing tour. From the town to the island, the boat takes about an hour. It takes only 10 minutes to sail to the island from Elounda and Plaka, on the opposite side of the Bay of Spinalonga.
