Spinalonga

We visted Spinalonga Island last September here. Mrs BB is an expert on the former leper colony and has read dozens on books on it, her favourite author being Beryl Darby with whom she corresponds.

Our friends wanted to return, so we headed there to enjoy a couple of hours on the island followed by a visit to The Hope Inn that overlooks Elounda from which we took the ferry across.

The blip picture shows the side of the island facing the mainland of Crete.

Spinalonga was not always an island.  In 1584, after fortifications were built, the Venetians blew up the land linking it with the mainland.In 1715, the Ottoman Turks captured Spinalonga taking over the last remaining Venetian fortress and removing the last trace of Venetian military presence from the island of Crete. In 1903 the last Turks left the island. The island was subsequently used as a leper colony from 1903 to 1957. It is notable for being one of the last active leper colonies in Europe. The last inhabitant, a priest, left the island in 1962.