Elounda

spinalonga island

Spinalonga Island is the setting for the bestseller "The Island" by Victoria Hislop. Spinalonga Island is easily accessed by boat from Elounda and the small village of Plaka.

The island of Spinalonga Kalidon has captured the imagination of many throughout its long history. Since millenia past, artists, musicians and authors have romanticised and wrote about this island. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions on Crete, and thousands of visitors walk along the narrow streets through the village on Spinalonga each year. Actually the name 'Spinalonga', which means 'Long Thorn', came from the Venitians after a small island near Venice. The official name is Kalidon, but so well known is its former name that even the sign posts and the boats that take you to the the island will call it only by its Venetian name.

Spinalonga is an island fortress on the south western entrance to the Gulf of Elounda. It is 5.6km away from Skisma. On the rocky island of Spinalonga, a fortress was built even from ancient ages to protect the port of the ancient Eloundians. It is reported that many Christians from the surrounding village took refuge in the ruins to save themselves during the time that the Saracens overtook Crete.In 1579, the Venetian rulers built the powerful fortress that we can admire today, for the safety of the port of Elounda, enclosing the area from hostile ships. In 1630, the fortress seemed to be impregnable but in 1715, the Kapoudan Pasha, the Turkish captain, besieged it at close quarters and took it.During the 1821 Revolution, it was a safe haven for many Turks, and during the 19th century it was the main port which was importing and exporting goods for the entire region of Mirabello. In 1881, it had 1112 Ottoman inhabitants who were involved in commerce, and they comprised the local council. During the revolution of 1821, 1866 and 1897, it was besieged by Cretan rebels. By edict of the State of Crete, from 1904 Spinalonga was used as a gathering point and place of refuge for Cretans suffering from leprosy. For a half century, this barren rocky outcrop had been host to life’s outcasts who lived out a drama of human pain at the height of their tragedy. Here they found their life’s end as well as the paradise of their dreams.With the progress of science, a cure was found to put an end to the misery of these lepers, and the hospital was dissolved in 1957. Spinalonga is a recognized archaeological site, and constitutes an identified historical grouping, one of the few examples of the art of Venetian island fortification and fortress-building in the Eastern Mediterranean. Every year over 30,000 Greek and foreign tourists visit the island.

Salt Pans

15th century salt evaporation pans which were still in use until the early 1970's.

Canal

Built by French engineers to ease trade between Elounda and Agios Nikolaos.