Spinalonga was first called Kalydon and later re-named Spina Lunga by the Venetians. On the 30th of May 1903, it was sealed as a leper colony. After the German occupation and when the cure for leprosy was discovered in 1957, the island was evacuated and transformed into an archaeological site. Artists like Victoria Hislop’s novel ‘The Island’ were inspired by Spinalonga’s tragic history.