Leprosy Island Greece
Approximately 400 people inhabited the island over the half century.
Leprosy island greece. Spinalonga island crete greece. It is said that the greek government turned the island into a leper colony to scare away the remaining turks. The island had no infrastructure and people were sent there to wait for their death while battling inhumane conditions with not so much as running water being available in the region.
We met because i had written a novel set on spinalonga a small island off crete which was a leper colony from 1903 until 1957 and manoli had been asked to write a foreword to the greek edition. The cure for leprosy had not yet been discovered and the contagious disease was regarded with horror. The island was subsequently used as a leper colony from 1903 to 1957.
When the cure for leprosy was discovered in 1948 the residents of spinalonga were gradually treated returned to good health and sent back to the mainland to rejoin the rest of society. The last inhabitant a priest did not leave the island till 1962 in order to maintain the greek orthodox tradition of commemorating a buried person 40 days 6 months 1 year 3 years and 5 years after their death. In 1903 a leper colony was established on spinalonga to isolate people suffering from hansens disease from the healthy population.
In greece the isolation center was the island of spinalonga. In 1896 the greek government established a leper colony on the island of samos and in august 1904 another one of saint panteleimon on the island of spinalonga now an interesting and rare attraction in crete. The colony was permanently closed in 1957.
In spite of its long and turbulent history today spinalonga is mainly known as the leper island. So from 1903 until 1957 the island became a leper colony. A leper colony was established on spinalonga to isolate lepers from the healthy population.
In 1904 after the cretans evicted the turks from spinalonga the islet was transformed into a leper colony where by 1913 after crete became part of greece anyone afflicted with the disease was.