SPINALONGASPINALONGA

a personal a personal reflectionreflection

Crete

ChaniaHeraklion Sitia

Bay of Mirabello

Plaka

Elounda

Spinalonga

Bay of Mirabello

Viewed from just inland, with the village of Plaka in the middle distance, we can see how very close Spinalonga is to the

mainland – less than 500 metres.

From this higher vantage point, it becomes clear how very small the island is and how barren looking.

The present day jetty at Plaka with the island in the background. Until a cure was found, the journey from Plaka to Spinalonga was strictly

one way……

… but nowadays boats ferry tourists to and fro across the narrow strip of water several times a day.

The remains of the buildings, abandoned in 1957, are clearly visible as you

approach the island – as is the terracing which was necessary for the cultivation of

the land.

The massive Venetian

fortifications are a reminder of the

island’srole in defending the

coast from Turkish raids; for the stricken lepers being

conveyed to the island,

their looming and forbidding presence

must have added to their sense of

foreboding.

Between May and October, there are always plenty of boats, large and small, bringing curious visitors to Spinalonga.

A trip around the perimeter by boat reveals that almost all the buildings are on the west (landward-facing) side of the island.

Some of these buildings have been restored while many remain in poor condition.

Visitors disembark at the modern landing stage.

The modern landing stage is indicated here on this map of the island which is displayed in the main street of the village . It helps the visitor orientate himself as well as giving an

idea of the layout of the island.

Alongside the map there is a

key which identifies the

various buildings

and the period to

which they belong.

The lepers entered the

island fortress through

the western gate, but today

a tour of the island starts

from the southern entrance just by the

modern landing stage…

…. with access through the walls by means of the long forbidding darkness of the

tunnel known as Dante’s Gate.

…. emerging finally

into the sunshine

of the main street

of the village.

Off to the right,

a narrow path

leads to the far

side of the island…

…and finally arrives here, at one of the few trees which graces Spinalonga.

And if at this point you turn to face the opposite direction, you can see back across to Plaka on the mainland.

Many of the houses are

tumbledown – although in

typical Greek fashion there are few warning

signs and no prohibitions

forbidding entry to these

crumbling buildings!

In the main street, however, the shops have been restored

and house a number of interesting displays and items relating

to the island’s past.

A bit of history.

As we see from this

table, Spinalonga had a long history even

before it became a

leper colony.

This photograph of Spinalonga was taken in 1901, just before it became a leper colony and while it was home to

a largely Turkish population…

Organisation of the Ottoman Settlement

The buildings, most of which were houses, were built in terraces along the west and south sides of the islet. The Muslim graveyard was established on the east side, and a mosque built halfway along the west side, where the Catholic church

of Santa Barbara had previously stood. Water was supplied from the earlier fortress cisterns, with the addition of two new public tanks.

This fact sheet details the island’s military architecture…

…. and this collection of medicine vials dates from the time of the leper colony.

Plates and bowls which have been found on the island

A version of Spinalonga

during its time as a leper

colony was created by

the Greek TV channel

‘Mega’ in Pano Elounda.

The following pictures

are part of the set for the TV series and

illustrate how Spinalonga would

have looked in the 1940s

and 50s. The TV producers

went to great lengths to

achieve authenticity….

For example, the owner of the taverna in Pano Elounda – named Bambi, and shown

here – told Mike that the TV people replaced the front doors of her taverna

with ones brought from Spinalonga!

Recreated here is Spinalonga’s kafeneio, set on the winding main street.

Although some of the walls were created

from artificial material – which tempted the visitor to go around

tapping the stonework to check what was real

and what was fake – the overall impression

was one of authenticity; as shown by these angles on a

very real looking main street.

A walk around the part of Pano Elounda where filming took place

Shops replicated included

Spinalonga’s bakery, which no Greek village of

the time could do without …

…and the barber’s shop, which like

the kafeneio, was a place for male

chat and camaraderie – and

reminds us that the lepers strove to live as normal a life as possible

within the confines of the island and the

restrictions imposed by their

disease.

This modern main street in Pano Elounda neatly juxtaposes ….

… the mean and rickety housing of the reproduced

Spinalonga…

… with this work in progress – a modern village house in the

process of being built.

Returning, however to

Spinalonga itself, not

everything is tumble down. Some fine

work has been done restoring houses

dating from the Venetian

period, such as this one…

and this.

The reconstructions have even taken account of details like this outside

oven. Even after electricity

was provided on

Spinalonga, cooking would

continue to be done on

open fires or in such ovens.

Pomegranate trees such as these still thrive on Spinalonga, bearing witness to the islanders’ determination to cultivate as best they could the barren soil in order to eke out their meagre existence.

Continuing our virtual tour of the island again from here…

Or, if we turn the

map on its side,

here …

…. the village centre, with its

restored shops on the main

street. These, as we have seen,

serve as a small museum

recording the island’s history.

Continuing along the

thoroughfare, we reach the

completely rebuilt and

refurbished church …

… shown here on the map.

If you look carefully at this internal picture of

the church, you can see that, above the icons,

people have hung representations of

various body parts. The idea is that

they are supplicating

divine intervention

in the healing of the diseased part.

Continuing along beyond the church, the visitor

passes the large open air sinks which served as a

communal laundry.

Water was always an issue as there are no

springs on Spinalonga. A

system for the collection

and storage of rain water was in place

from early times – this

cistern dates from the

Venetian period but was still in use at the time of the

leper colony.

Just beyond the church, on a slightly elevated site on the right hand

side is the Hospital. It is reasonably well

preserved, although the houses around it are in

poor condition,

such as this one which is situated just below the hospital

One house at least, however, retains window fixtures which gives an

idea of how dark and enclosed these houses must have felt.

Again there is evidence that

outside ovens were

ubiquitous and important – here as before we can see

one which has been

restored.

Just beyond the

hospital, the massive

walls are pierced by

the west gate.

It was through this gate,

via the disinfection

room built on to the wall here, that lepers were brought to

the island.

These houses face the

west gate. Note how

the topography of the

island dictates the elevated terraces

on which they are

built.

Looking landward from this

part of the island again shows how very near it

lies to Plaka and the mainland –

less than 500 metres.

Beautiful as it is, the sea here provided a double temptation – to escape from the island by swimming (but then where, disfigured as they were, could they go?), or to provide the ultimate escape from the misery of the conditions in which their disease forced them to

live.

Approaching now

the north end of the

island there are large

blocks of barrack-like

accommodation.

These large blocks, seen here on the left

were built to accommodate the

growing numbers of lepers who were

sent to Spinalonga from

all over Greece after

the end of

the Second World war.

The perimeter path now curves around the north

side of the island…

…to reveal the massive Venetian defences,

facing northwards to the open sea.

Located here

Following the path now

along the east side of

the island, we can look

back at the fortifications. The terrain here is very rocky and exposed

and there are no houses

on this side.

This is the view from the

east side, with some of

tourist boats visible. These boats, as well as

carrying visitors to and

from the island, generally

take their passengers on

a complete sea-borne circuit of the island.

The path continues along, past the tiny double chapel (Orthodox on one side,

Catholic on the other) – the only building on this side of

the island.

Clambering upwards from the path to the crest of the

island, this is the view over the top of the restored

shops on the main street.

At this elevated point there

are one or two restored buildings, which lie close

inthe shadow of the great

south bastion…

…which seems to frown down on tourists arriving at the island.

Sadly and significantly, the last place the perimeter path passes before it sweeps round

and down to our starting point is the leper cemetery – isolated as far as possible from

the island’s dwellings.

Which brings the visitor to the final slope leading downwards to the waiting boats.

Tourists have this final backward glance at the island as they leave – a journey which tragically few of

the lepers ever were allowed to make.

All photographs and videos All photographs and videos taken taken

between 2008 & 2010 between 2008 & 2010 byby Mike Leys, Katerina Mike Leys, Katerina

Bamlett Bamlett & Margaret Graham.& Margaret Graham.

All music from the original soundtrack of the series ‘Το Νησί’ on megatv.com