Out early this morning and onto the bus for the 90-minute
ride to the seaside town of Agio Nikolaos, the stepping-off point (or, more
correctly, the sailing-off point) for the island of Spinalonga. We walked down the long, steep hill from the
bus station to the port, then time for elevenses before boarding the “Ostria”
to start our cruise to the island. It’s
a good-sized boat, with a snack bar and restaurant and there was a running commentary
in about five languages to keep us informed of what we were passing – a very
relaxing journey. We passed the sunken
city of Oulos, a Neolithic city that apparently sunk into the sea at some
stage; its ruins are still visible on calm days (although we didn’t see any of
them today), then we sailed past a cave allegedly used by the pirate
Barbarossa, who was very active in this area during his reign of terror in the
late 16th century. We stopped
for 30 minutes at Kolokitha Bay, where some of the younger passengers jumped
into the sea for a swim, then continued to Spinalonga, so named because it was
once joined to the mainland by a “spine” – but is no longer.
We disembarked and were taken on a guided tour. Fortunately the English language group was fairly
small and our guide was very knowledgeable on her subject and provided us with
a potted but detailed history of the island: not much is known of the ancient
history of the area, however it was generally depopulated around the 7th
century due to the frequent Arab raids. The Venetians later settled it and in
the 16th century built fortifications around the island (which only
occupies just over eight hectares in total).
The Venetians held onto the island even when the rest of Crete had
fallen to the Ottomans, however it finally succumbed in 1715 and the last Turks
did not leave until 1903; although the rest of Crete had been restored to the
locals by 1878, the Turks on Spinalonga did not want to leave. In 1903 the island was set up as a leper
colony (that got rid of the Turks!) and remained so until 1957. Although totally isolated from family and
friends, the lepers were well looked after; they were provided with food,
water, medical attention and social security payments, to the point that many
were able to help support their relatives at home, and eventually were able to
receive visitations from family on the
island. During World War II, despite the
attacks on Crete as a whole, Spinalonga was left alone simply because it was a
leper colony and thus became probably the safest place on Crete. When the decision was taken in 1957 to no
longer use the island for lepers, those remaining on the island were
transferred to a hospital in Athens.
Some did not want to leave and had to be “escorted” off by police.
We walked through the village, past the dilapidated
buildings including the hospital and disinfecting room, and the two remaining
churches. We also climbed up to the
highest point on the island to look at the remains of the Venetian fort. Then back on the boat for the return voyage
to Agio Nikolaos, the long walk back up the hill to the bus station, then the
journey back to Heraklion, arriving home about 8pm.
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