Spinalonga - The isolated leprosarium

Spinalonga Island - the place for those infected with leprosy 

The small island of Spinalonga, located near Crete in the Aegean Seam once served as a leprosarium, where people suffering from leprosy were isolated from the outside world. 

Initially, the sick people were brought to the island and violently separated from their families. These people lived here in terrible conditions. Later, the sick people, who were a little bit more educated, began to be brought here, and because the conditions on the island were still very bad (there was no drinking water and also not enough doctors), the lepers had to take care of themselves a bit. And so, following the example of the Venetians, they created tanks for collecting rainwater. Drinking water was drained from the roofs through narrow pipes. However, supply problems persisted for a long time.

Conditions on the island did not improve until 1932. For example, an electric generator was transported here, and the sick people began to organize their own entertainment. There was a theatre, a cinema, even a dance hall, and newspapers were published. In 1937, a hospital was built by the Greek government, so that doctors and nurses could visit people with leprosy. However, every visitor who visited the island had to go through a disinfection room first. It was disinfected with hot steam, and all visitors had to wash their hands in chemical liquid. The disinfection room, whose roof has the shape of a mosque, was located right next to the harbor, right at the main entrance to the island. Since the patient's limbs were often amputated, which was the only way to help those infected with leprosy, women from another part of Greece who was not infected did the laundry. Despite all of this, death was unfortunately an everyday part here. Today on the island you can see a cemetery with about 100 graves (800 dead; it was often buried in a common pit).

The sick people, who were sentenced to live here, also had a church at their disposal, where, despite the opposition of the Greek government, they were able to secure regular Orthodox Masses. There were even wedding ceremonies here. However, the children born on the island were taken from their mothers immediately after birth and then transported to Athens, where they were placed in special facilities for orphans. Those children who did not get leprosy by the age of 18 then had the opportunity to integrate into society.

Spinalonga was the home of lepers until 1954 when the Greek government decided to abolish the leprosarium on the island and move the sick to hospitals. 

Nowadays, the island of Spinalonga is widely visited by tourists from all over the world. So if you are going to visit the island, I highly recommend you to come here in the morning, when the island still has the right atmosphere that you should experience here. At a time when you will meet only a minimum of visitors, the power of this place will really fall on you. You can walk everywhere without the rush of that pile of tourists behind your back, and you will be much more impressed by this place. Personally, looking at the exhibited photos in the shopping street, was a very emotive experience for me, especially when I found out that no one was anywhere.

Around lunchtime, large ships are coming to the island and there are huge queues at the entrance, so you can not move almost anywhere and it is quite noisy here. So suddenly the whole tour loses its magic and in a way its dignity when you see how some tourists take selfie photos on every corner. Everything is starting to be just an attraction, and you just feel that this place deserves more respect for its history.