The island of Spinalonga (Kalidon) has captured the imagination of so many over it's long history. From the depths of the past to the present day people, artists, musicians and authors have imagined and wrote about this island. One of the most visited tourist attraction on Crete, thousands of visitors every year walk along the narrow streets through the village on Spinalonga. Actually the name Spinalonga is Venetian, meaning "Long Thorn" the official name is Kalidon, but so well known as its former name Spinalonga not even the sign posts and the boats that take you the the island will call it anything but by its Venetian name. The Venetians called it Spinalonga after a small island near Venice called the same. This Venetian island has now been renamed Giudecca.
The fortress on the island was built by the Venetians using building materials from an original ancient fortress on the island. It was founded in 1579 by Luca Michiel and the island was used as in defence of Crete usually against the ever expanding Turks and pirates. The Venetians were defeated by the Turks however the island was not and became a safe place for Venetians between 1669-1715. Later in history it was inhabited by Muslims until 1903 and when the Muslims left the island became a leper colony by order of the Greek Government of the time. In 1957 the very last inhabitant left the island and now is one of the most visited islands in Crete. With the passage of time the small village and walls of the fortress began to crumble, however much work has been done on the island over the last few years to repair its crumbling history.
As I wrote before, the island of Spinalonga is the most visited island in Crete and so thousands of tourists visit the island everyday. They catch the boats from Elounda port, there are many. Also Plaka the small village North of Elounda has boats that visit Spinalonga. The temperature on the small island get very hot there seams less wind to cool one down. There is a cafe on the island for refreshments. The walk around the island should take you around 2 hours or longer. There is a footpath that goes all around the island which is not to difficult to walk.
I loved the trip I took to Spinalonga so I award the Spinalonga Island a silver because when you step onto the island you step back into history. The island captures your imagination as it did for one lady who visited it not so long ago. Her name Victoria Hislop the author of "The Island" the best selling book about the lepers of Spinalonga. Maybe it will inspire you to write something about The Island Of Spinalonga.
I loved the trip I took to Spinalonga so I award the Spinalonga Island a silver because when you step onto the island you step back into history. The island captures your imagination as it did for one lady who visited it not so long ago. Her name Victoria Hislop the author of "The Island" the best selling book about the lepers of Spinalonga. Maybe it will inspire you to write something about The Island Of Spinalonga.
On Monday 5th of April, me and my partner and her family decided we would take a trip to Spinalonga. Now during the summer many tourists visit this little island and the only time in the past I visited the island was in the summer. This time it was Easter and a more comfortable temperature greeted us on the island. One of the first things I noticed about visiting the island during the off season was there was only about 10 of us on the whole of Spinalonga and so felt as if we had the island to our selves. The second thing I noticed was how colourful the island was during the Easter with flowers.
I have been on Spinalonga several times but have never visited the fortress on the highest point of the island. However because it was not so hot as it is during the summer I thought I would give it a go. The path up to the fortress is not the easiest to climb but I have to say it was worth every difficult step, the views are amazing as you can see by the pictures below.
The best selling novel by Victoria Hislop "The Island" is now being made into a television series, many books have been written about the lepers of the island fact and fiction. The island is one of the most busiest tourist destinations on the island of Crete. If it was not for the people who lived with this terrible disease interest in the island would not be as it is now, I offer this page in remembrance to those people. The island was a chance for these people to live a more normal life, with shops and proper housing and even a hospital. Before this you would find the lepers living in the surrounding hills hiding in caves.
The Island of Spinalonga or the original name Kalidon
Beautiful flowers painted the island with colour
Beautiful flowers painted the island with colour
One plant on the island which is seen all the year round
The waters around the island crystal clear, no mass of boats disturbing the sands
A beautiful blue sky
A village house on Spinalonga
A village house on Spinalonga
The main street from the gateway
The hospital
The main street from the gateway
A small path leads to more houses now in ruins
The fortress
The fortress
The reward !
Both Elounda and Plaka run boats to the island on this Bank Holiday. Elounda was charging 10 Euro and Plaka was charging 8 Euro and they ran every hour. Entrance to the island was free ! The cafe on Spinalonga was closed. If you want to climb to the main fortress area sensible shoes are a must.
R.I.P.
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