Spinalonga , the island and history and leprocy

Prince George suceeded in getting the cretan Republic to proclaim a
resolution.It was decided to make Spinalonga into a LEPER
COLONY.The Turks were told that oon Spinalonga all the lepers of Crete
(and soon all Greece ) were to be concetrated ,and there they would
spend the rest of their lives.That was the end of the Turkish
«occupation» of spinalonga.In the same year 1903 the last Turks
abandoned the Castle .

The disease LEPROCY was one of the
most feared diseases of ancients times. It was believed that leprocy
was the sign of impurity, and people kept a distance from anyone who
had the disease .Up to 1903 lepers where living into caves in Heraklio.
As you probably know the disease causes open wounds on the
body, especially on hands and legs .Often it causes the entire loss
of fingers and toes.In those days leprosy often gave large frightening
wounds in the face resulting sometimes the loss of nose and ears . The
tales of the human martyrdom of this disease must be endless.
sometimes it hit a child ,sometimes a young boy or girl . when they
caught the infection it could last two to thirty years before the
wounds were openly seen , and up to our times the disease is still
fought with difficulty if not taken under treatment very early.

A norwecian physician by the name of
ARMAUER HANSEN was studying leprosy for many years , and marked his
name is scientific when in 1873 he found the leper bacterium or
bacillus. Through the work of Armauer Hansen the world got to know
that leprosy is contagious through direct contact between a sick
person and a healthy one .That is the open wound of a leper patient
must be in intimate contact with a fresh wound , scar or scratch of
another person to cause infection.During the fifty four years of the
colony , roughly faur hundred people lived there , some of them evern
born on spinalonga- many , many died there .I have documents from this
period in my office , with names and personal data written down :

There is mentioned Maria vlakou from
the Peloponese , thirty two years old , died 1938.there is Angela
Anngirou from Thessalonica , died 1942 forty years old.Yannis Sarin
from Edesa died 1928 eighteen year old and so on …How could they
live in this colony, how miserable were their deaths . You may ask what kind of life they had
. Well when you visit this island you will
see where we dissembark at the big stone entrance to the Street
of Pain. you will be walking walking along the lines of shops and
small houses which were situated at the bottom of the hills , along
the coastline and near the main gate . At certain times during the day
there must have been an atmosphere of busy life – even there, with
people coming and going, chatting and may be laughing , not all, of
course , being deadly ill. some of the lepers were married to each
other , and lived together in small apartments , having a a garden
outside to tend. Perhaps they had some hens, a dog or cats.

People of this district usually called
Spinalonga «The Quiet Island» thinking both of the
peacefullness during the war when Spinalonga was like another world ,
and of the quiet endurance of personal pain.

The priests did however , sometimes
perform happier services than burrials. It happened that lepers
,like other people, fell in love with each other and got married .
during the years of the Leper colony twenty babies were born on
Spinalonga.

Are you interested on visting Spinalonga Island?
We can help!

The apartments have fully equipped kitchen with refridgerator  , if you like to cook meal
for you or for your children.

Studios for 2 person:

Features patio and balcony. Includes air conditioning, LCD TV, kitchenette with electric kettle, cooking hobs and fridge.
Room Facilities:
•Safety Deposit Box,•Air Conditioning,•Extra Long Beds,•Shower,•Bathroom,•TV (Flat-screen TV),•Tea/Coffee Maker,•Kitchenette,•Refrigerator,•Electric Kettle,•Kitchenware,•Balcony,•Patio,•View (garden, landmark, etc.)

Room Size:
30 square metres

View more for Athina Villas – Studios

Apartments for 3 person:

Features patio and balcony. Includes air conditioning, TV, kitchenette with electric kettle, cooking hobs and fridge.
Room Facilities:
•Safety Deposit Box,•Air Conditioning and fan,•Ironing Facilities•Extra Long Beds,•Shower,•Bathroom,•TV (Flat-screen TV),•Tea/Coffee Maker,•Kitchenette,•Refrigerator,•Electric Kettle,•Kitchenware,•Balcony,•Patio,•View (garden,landmark, etc.)

Room Size:
35 square metres

View more for Athina Villas – Apartments

Apartments for 5 person  with seaview:

Features patio and balcony overlooking the Cretan Sea. Includes air conditioning, LCD TV, kitchenette with electric kettle, cooking hobs and fridge.

Room Facilities:
•Safety Deposit Box,•Air Conditioning and fan,•Ironing Facilities•Extra Long Beds,•Shower,•Bathroom,•TV (Flat-screen TV),•Tea/Coffee Maker,•Kitchenette,•Refrigerator,•Electric Kettle,•Kitchenware,•Balcony,•Patio,•View (sea, garden, landmark, etc.)

Room Size:
80 square metres

View more for Athina Villas – Apartments

Elounda hotel  at Plaka 

There are 6 apartments with individual kitchen and toillette
. Apartments 1,2 ,3 and 4  are individual
apartments with private entrance and balcon .They are
2-bed studios. Apartments 5 and  6  lies
behind the apts 1 to 4  and are two-bedroom
apartments separated each room with the other with
doors  and can sleep 4 people  There are 2
big beaches two  minutes walk from athina apts
.  Cafe and taverns are in
direct proximity. The apartments  are  about
to  the center of the village. Purification
,bed linen and towels are placed weekly. BREAKFAST
can also be arranged . Comitted to full satisfaction
and personal relationship  you will have a wonderfull
time if you spend your holidays there different from
massive tourism holidays.

]]> http://spinalonga.com/athina-hotel-in-spinalonga/athina-apartments/feed/ 0 http://spinalonga.com/athina-hotel-in-spinalonga/contact/ http://spinalonga.com/athina-hotel-in-spinalonga/contact/#comments Fri, 20 May 2011 19:12:05 +0000 spinalonga http://spinalonga.com/?p=17 Ask us for special prices starting from 13 euro per person!

Emmanouil Goniotakis
Plaka Elounda, Zip Code: 72053
Email: athina-villas@spinalonga.eu
Tel: +302841041342
Fax: +302841033524
Mob: +30 6944513106 (speak Greek,English)
[contact-form-7]

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