Spinalonga
Spinalonga, or Σπιναλόγκa, is a small Greek island best known for the harsh role it played in public health history. In the late 16th century, the Venetians turned the island into a leper colony, isolating people with leprosy behind fortified walls. Control shifted when the Ottomans took Crete in 1669, and Spinalonga remained an isolation site long after that change in power. The island continued to function as a leper settlement into the modern era, with patients remaining there until the colony was phased out in the mid-20th century. What makes Spinalonga matter beyond its surface is how it shows a single, enclosed place being used—over centuries—to manage fear, contagion, and responsibility. …
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