If you ever visit Crete, this island is definitely worth a visit. This small island of 200 by 500 meters is located in the northeast of Crete and was appointed a leper colony in 1902, completely isolated from the outside world. Today it is one of Crete’s most famous tourist attractions and known from the TV series Who Pays the Ferryman. Rightly so, a visit is a very impressive experience.
Brief history up to 1913
When the Arabs occupied Crete in the year 824, Spinalonga became a refuge for Christians who built a small fortress for their safety. From the year 1204 the Venetians had power on the island, their occupation would last more than 500 years. To protect the port of Elounda against the Turks (Ottomans) they built a fortress there. Crete was conquered by the Turks in 1669, but Spinalonga remained Venetian until 1715, after which the island was occupied by the Turks. They founded a village that was inhabited by approximately 1000 Turks until 1898. After Crete became a republic, a French naval base was established on the island from 1903. However, many Turkish residents of the island did not want to leave it yet. However, the republic did not want to use force to expel the Turks and named the island a leprosy colony. The last Turks left the island out of fear of infection
History from 1913
In 1913, the government of Crete ordered all lepers to be exiled to Spina Longa. For this purpose, a medical committee was set up to detect the lepers. After detection, they were first taken to Agios Nicolaos, to a meeting point in the port, and from there they continued to Spinalonga. The people were housed here in the buildings built by the Venetians and the Turks. These houses were of great antiquity. Because no one wanted to come to the island for fear of infection and the lepers themselves were unable to maintain the houses, they must have lived in very poor conditions.
In principle, the lepers could not be helped in any other way than by providing morphine and, if necessary, amputation of body parts.
For that time, the lepers received very high social assistance that far exceeded the normal wage. However, this assistance was also very necessary, due to their disability it was not possible to perform normal household tasks such as laundry. The medical staff on the island did not perform such tasks, so outside help had to be brought in. At the time, they were still afraid of contamination and therefore charged exorbitantly high amounts for their work, so that the lepers barely had enough left to meet other necessities of life, such as food. In addition, these foodstuffs also had to be brought to the island, again out of fear very high prices were charged for the foodstuffs for transport. Afterwards it also turned out that many of these transports were in the hands of civil servants who tried to supplement their wages in this way.
Until teacher Remundakis was appointed president of the island in 1938, there was reasonable chaos. Under him a board was formed consisting of several lepers and a doctor. An order service was appointed to combat crime, a hospital was built and new graves were made for lepers who could not buy their own grave.
At the same time, the local population became more informed about leprosy and their attitudes changed. Eventually it even became possible for family members to visit their relatives on the condition that they would be disinfected before and after the visit. Spinalonga and especially the residents came out of its isolation, although this did not last very long. In 1941, Crete was occupied by German troops and Spinalonga again became a forbidden area due to an alleged risk of contamination.
Spinalonga during the Second World War
Although the German regime advocated clearing out the sick as quickly as possible, it is stated that they did not allow any soldiers to come near them for fear of the risk of infection. However, there are also reports that German doctors stationed in this area tried to reach the Lepers. In 1941, Crete was hit by a famine winter. This also caused major shortages of food and medicine on Spinalonga. This ultimately led to 4 lepers trying to swim to leave the island. Once they arrived on the beach they were shot dead. Apparently the action of these 4 men had some influence, after which packages of food and medicine were regularly brought to the island.
The end of the leper colony
After the Second World War, Spinalonga again entered a period in which the organization had to be built up. Social assistance was resumed and Spinalonga was one of the first places where light could be installed in the houses using a generator. However, during this period of reconstruction, the first medicine that could cure leprosy was invented and acceptance emerged that leprosy was a curable disease. In 1955, the Greek government definitively declared that leprosy was not a contagious or incurable disease. From that time on, the residents were able to return to the mainland and the leper colony was closed in 1957.
The visitors
During the visit you will visit the most important places of this small island. You will see where the lepers were housed, the so-called hospital that was present in the colony, the church that was built by the lepers and the graves (very small due to amputation). A very special and impressive excursion that not only shows what happened in the past, but also shows how we still deal with the sick today.
Accessibility:
Boat trips to Spina Longa are organized from various places on Crete. If you do not immediately come across such a boat trip, you have the option to travel to Agios Nicolaos, from most tourist places you can also reach this city by public transport. Many boat trips to Spina Longa are offered in the port of this city, also with Dutch-speaking guides.