This location is #33 on our Best Travel Destinations In Greece & Greek Islands Map!
Spinalonga Island, a small rocky islet off the northeastern coast of Crete, Greece, spans roughly 85 acres and sits in the Gulf of Elounda. Its rugged terrain, with a maximum elevation of about 174 feet, is dominated by a 16th-century Venetian fortress, built to guard the entrance to the gulf. The island’s strategic position made it a key defensive point for centuries, with walls stretching approximately 1,300 feet around its perimeter. Once a thriving leper colony from 1903 to 1957, it housed hundreds of patients in isolation, with buildings including a hospital, church, and living quarters still standing today. The island’s stark beauty, with its crumbling stone structures and clear turquoise waters, draws visitors who explore its trails, about half a mile of walkable paths, to experience its haunting history.
During World War II, Spinalonga’s role shifted as Crete fell under German occupation in 1941 following the Battle of Crete. The island’s leper colony, still active at the time, became a unique refuge. The German forces, wary of the contagious disease, largely avoided the island, allowing its residents a degree of autonomy. The roughly 400 lepers living there, along with a small number of caretakers, maintained a self-sufficient community despite the war raging around them.
They grew food in small plots, fished in the surrounding waters, and bartered with nearby villages, roughly 1,000 feet across the channel, for supplies. The isolation that defined their medical exile inadvertently shielded them from the worst of the occupation’s violence, creating a rare pocket of relative calm amidst the chaos of the war. An intriguing aspect of Spinalonga’s WWII history is its role as a quiet symbol of resistance.
While the islanders were cut off from active fighting, their continued existence under such harsh conditions was a form of defiance against both their disease and the occupation. One notable fact is that the leper colony’s radio, a rare piece of technology on the island, was used to secretly listen to Allied broadcasts, providing residents with news of the war’s progress. This small act of rebellion kept hope alive among the isolated community. Another lesser-known detail is that the island’s fortress walls, originally built by the Venetians, were briefly considered by the Germans for use as a defensive outpost but were ultimately deemed impractical due to the island’s small size and the presence of the leper colony. This decision preserved Spinalonga as a unique wartime sanctuary, untouched by the destruction that ravaged much of Crete.
