Spinalonga

The island of Spinalonga (official name: Kalidon) is located at the eastern section of Crete, near the town of Elounda. The name of the island, Spinalonga, is Venetian, meaning "long thorn", and has roots in the period of Venetian occupation. This location is also the setting for Victoria Hislop's bestselling novel "The Island" and Werner Herzog's experimental short film "Last Words."

Origin of the name

According to Venetian documents, the name of the island originated in the Greek expression "STIN ELOUNDA" (meaning "to Elounda"). The Venetians could not understand the expression so they familiarized it using their own language, and called it SPINA (thorn) LONGA (long), an expression that was also maintained by the locals. The Venetians were inspired for this expression by the name of an island near Venice called by the same name and which is known today as the island of Giudecca.

History

The Venetian cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli reports that Spinalonga was not always an island, but was once linked with the adjacent peninsula of Kolokitha. He mentions that in 1526, the Venetians cut down a portion of the peninsula and thus created the island. Because of its position the island was fortified from its earliest years in order to protect the entranceway of the port of Ancient Olous.

Olous, and accordingly the wider region, were depopulated at the middle of the 7th century because of the raids of the Arab pirates in the Mediterranean. Olous remained deserted until the middle of the 15th century when the Venetians begun to construct salt-pans in the shallow and salty waters of the gulf. Consequently, the region acquired commercial value and systematically became inhabited. This fact, in combination with the Turkish threat to use gunpowder for warlike purposes, particularly after the occupation of Constantinople in 1453, and the continuous pirate raids, forced the Venetians to fortify the island.

In 1578 the Venetians charged the engineer Genese Bressani to plan the island's fortifications. He created blockhouses at the highest points of the northern and southern side of the island, as well as a fortification ring along the coast of the island that closed out any hostile disembarkation. In 1579, the General Previsor of Crete Luca Michiel put the foundation stone of the fortifications. There are two inscriptions that cite this event: one on the transom of the main gate of the castle and the other on the base of the rampart at the north side of the castle. In 1584, the Venetians, realising that the coastal fortifications were easy to conquer by the enemies attacking from the vicinal hills, decided to strengthen their defence by constructing new fortifications at the top of the hill. The Venetian fire would thus have bigger throw, rendering Spinalonga an impregnable sea fortress, one of the most important in the Mediterranean basin.

In addition, in 1579 the Venetians built a fortress on Spinalonga over the ruins of an acropolis. They kept control of the island until the Ottoman Empire took possession of it in 1715.

Following the Turkish occupation of Crete in 1669, only the fortresses of Gramvousa , Souda and Spinalonga remained in Venetian hands; they would remain so for almost half a century. Many Christians found refuge in these fortresses to escape persecution. In 1715, the Turks came to terms with the Venetians and occupied the island. At the end of the Turkish occupation the island was the refuge of many Ottoman families that feared the Christian reprisals. After the revolution of 1866 other Ottoman families came to the island from all the region of Mirabello. In 1881 the 1112 Ottomans formed their own community and Later, 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. This was to maintain the religious tradition of the Greek Orthodox church, in which a buried person has to be commemorated 40 days, 6 months, 1, 3 and 5 years after their death. Other leper colonies that have survived Spinalonga include Tichilesti in Eastern Romania, Fontilles in Spain and Talsi in Latvia. As of 2002, few lazarettos remain in Europe. [cite web|accessdate=March 27|accessyear=2005
url=http://www.abc.net.au/gnt/history/Transcripts/s1231982.htm| title=Peel Island| work=GNT History] )

There were two entrances to Spinalonga, one being the "lepers' entrance", a tunnel known as Dante's Gate. This was so named because the patients did not know what was going to happen to them once they arrived. However, once on the island they received food, water, medical attention and social security payments. Previously, such amenities had been unavailable to Crete's leprosy patients, as they mostly lived in the area's caves, away from civilization.

Spinalonga Today

Today, the unoccupied island is one of the main tourist attractions in Crete. In addition to the abandoned leper colony and the fortress, Spinalonga is known for its small pebble beaches. The island can easily be accessed from Elounda and Agios Nikolaos. Tourist boats depart from both towns on a daily basis. There is no accommodation on Spinalonga, meaning all tours last only a few hours. Boat trips from Elounda take approximately fifteen minutes while trips departing Agios Nikolaos can take nearly one hour.

The book "Island of the Damned" by Victor Zorba - a local expert on the island - is still in print. It relates the true story of the leper colony and, because the author met with the last governor of the colony, contains many exclusive photos and stories of the German occupation.

The book "The Island" by Victoria Hislop is set in Spinalonga and shares the fictional story of a family's ties to the leper colony.

There is also a fascinating novel called "Yannis" written by Beryl Darby (who also wrote the offical guide book to the island "Spinalonga - A leper colony") which is an insightful story about the lepers who lived on the island. Although the novel is fictional it is based on stories retold by one of lepers who was last to leave the island when it eventually closed. The guide book "Spinalonga" has also been translated into many other languages.Following "Yannis" is also the next book in Beryl Darby's series "Anna". For more information go to wwww.beryldarby.co.uk

References

*cite book |last=Hislop |first=Victoria |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=The Island |year= 2005 |publisher= |location= |isbn=
*cite book |last=Zorba |first=Victor |title=The Island Of The Damned
*cite book |last=Darby |first=Beryl |title=Spinalonga - A Leper Colony
*cite book |last=Darby |first=Beryl |title=Yannis
*cite book |last=Darby |first=Beryl |title=Anna

External links

* [http://members.tripod.com/romeartlover/Spina.html Spinalonga]
* [http://www.crete-pictures.com Crete pictures]
* [http://www.crete-map.com Crete map]
* [http://imdb.com/title/tt0061905/ Werner Herzog's documentary about man from Spinalonga]