Hislop

The changing face of Spinalonga, ‘island of the living dead’

Immortalized in Victoria Hislop's award-winning novel, "The Island," the uninhabited islet of Spinalonga has a long and tragic past. Known by its grim epithet, the "island of the living dead," and nestled in the picturesque Elounda Bay of northeast Crete, the islet was home to one of Europe's last leper colonies, active from 1903 to 1957.