Spinalonga kat.finalfinal
Transcript of Spinalonga kat.finalfinal
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