Spinalonga Island sits in the northern corner of Mirabello Bay in eastern Crete, 800 metres offshore from the resort village of Elounda. It is reached by a 10-minute boat ride that costs €10–15 per person from Elounda or Plaka. The island is one of the most visited sites in Crete — and one of the most affecting. A Venetian fortress and an abandoned leper colony on the same small island, surrounded by the extraordinary blue of the Aegean. You arrive expecting ruins. You leave thinking about the people.
History of Spinalonga Island
The island's long inhabited history divides into two sharply distinct chapters.
The Venetian fortress (1579–1715): Venice built the fortress of Spinalonga in 1579 to control the entrance to Elounda Bay and protect the nearby salt pans, which were commercially vital. When the Ottomans completed their conquest of Crete in 1669 after a 21-year siege of Heraklion, Spinalonga held out. The island remained Venetian territory for another 46 years — the last Venetian possession in the entire eastern Mediterranean — finally surrendering to the Ottomans in 1715. During the Ottoman period, a community of several hundred people lived inside the fortress walls. Their dwellings, mosques, and commercial buildings still stand.
The leper colony (1903–1957): In 1903, the Greek authorities established a leper colony on Spinalonga, using the island's isolation as the solution to a public health problem. At its peak, around 1,000 people lived here. They were not the destitute of legend — the island had a functioning economy, shops, a church, a cinema, and a social hierarchy. Patients who arrived on the island understood they would likely never leave. The last residents were transferred to a hospital in Athens in 1957, after the introduction of dapsone made leprosy treatable. Spinalonga became one of the last operating leper colonies in Europe to close.
The island was made internationally famous by Victoria Hislop's novel The Island (2005) and its Greek TV adaptation. Many visitors arrive having read the novel and find the physical reality of the place more powerful than the fiction.
What to See on Spinalonga
The Gate of Dante (Dante's Gate): The main entrance to the island — a dark tunnel through the Venetian walls that opens suddenly into the colony. Arriving patients walked through this gate knowing they would not return. The contrast between the narrow darkness and the light of the interior courtyard is deliberately disorienting. It is the most remembered moment for most visitors.
The leper colony buildings: The island's main street runs through the former colony. Roofless but structurally intact houses line both sides. The island's church, Agios Georgios, still stands. The hospital building and pharmacy can be identified. Walking the street at your own pace with a good guide, the settlement becomes legible: you understand where the wealthier residents lived, where the market was, how the community organised itself.
The Venetian fortifications: The outer walls, bastions, and the intact water cisterns are extraordinary engineering. The views from the walls across Mirabello Bay are some of the best in Crete. The combination of the Aegean blue, the distant mountains, and the abandoned architecture creates a striking photographic composition at almost any time of day.
Practical Information for Visiting Spinalonga
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | Eastern Crete, Mirabello Bay, 800m from Elounda |
| Access | Boat from Elounda (10 min, €10–15) or Plaka (5 min, €5–8) |
| Opening hours | 08:00–20:00 (summer) | First boat ~08:30, last return ~18:00 |
| Entrance fee | €8 (adult) | €4 (reduced) | Under 6: free |
| Visit duration | 90 minutes (self-guided) | 2 hours (with private guide) |
| Best time | First boat of the day (before cruise passengers arrive, ~10:00) |
| From Heraklion | 70 km east, 1h by car. Drive to Elounda, take boat. |
Combining Spinalonga with Elounda
Elounda village is one of the most attractive resort areas in Crete — a small harbour with good fish restaurants, the ruins of the ancient city of Olous (partially submerged), and the luxury hotel strip on the peninsula to the north that includes some of the finest properties in Greece. Most visitors combine a Spinalonga boat trip (morning) with lunch in Elounda and an afternoon at the Olous ruins or simply at one of the harbour cafés.
From Heraklion, the drive east to Elounda takes about 1 hour along the main national road. The road follows the coastline and is exceptionally scenic in the section above Agios Nikolaos, where the road clings to the cliff above the Aegean.
Spinalonga with a Private Guide
A private guide changes the Spinalonga experience significantly. Without context, you see roofless buildings and Venetian walls. With a guide who knows the history, you understand the social structure of the colony, the specific stories of the people who lived and died here, and the engineering decisions the Venetians made when they designed the fortifications in 1579.
105 Olives Greece offers a Spinalonga & Elounda private tour from Heraklion including transport (1h drive each way), the boat trip, the guided island tour, and lunch in Elounda. Duration: 5–6 hours. Price from €400 for a couple.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Spinalonga suitable for children?
Yes — for children aged 8 and above. The history of the leper colony is a subject that can be introduced sensitively. Children aged 10+ often find the combination of fortress ruins, abandoned village, and boat trip genuinely engaging. The terrain is mostly flat and manageable.
What is the book about Spinalonga?
Victoria Hislop's novel The Island (2005) follows a family across several generations connected to the Spinalonga colony. It became one of the best-selling novels in Greece and the UK and remains in print. Many visitors read it before or after visiting. The Greek TV series «To Nisi» based on the book aired in 2010 and is available with subtitles.
Is it crowded?
In July and August, yes — particularly from 10:00 onwards when cruise passenger groups arrive from Heraklion. The first boat of the day (around 08:30) gives you the island largely to yourself for the first hour. October and May are much quieter.
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