Spinalonga, located at the entry way of the Elounda gulf and is perhaps the best known island of Crete. The island's ancient name was Kalydonia, but after the Venetian occupation, it was renamed Spina (thorn) Longa (long).

 In 1834, eighty Turkish families lived on the island, while in 1881 the Ottomans of Spinalonga exceeded one thousand. In 1903, when the last of the Turks left Spinalonga, the island was appointed by the Cretan State as a place for lepers. After Crete's union with the mainland in 1913, lepers from all of Greece came to stay on the island.

The first 251 lepers to be transported to the island had been already exiled and isolated from local societies to the distant fringes of cities, called meskinies, communities, which brought the stigma of transmitted sickness and never provided pharmaceutical care. Spinalonga obviously improved the lepers’ quality of life, since there was a hospital which offered a doctor, nursing personnel and support staff, as well as a priest.

Initially the sick lived in buildings at the Turkish settlement, but during the 30s, some modern buildings were constructed. Despite any predicaments, the patients, who reached 1000 in 1913, developed a peculiar sociability with their own rules and values, and many married and had children.

All children who were born healthy were given up for adoption or brought to the country to grow-up with relatives. Many Plaka residents still remember the cries of women when they were separated from their babies.

However, on the optimistic side of Spinalonga life, there was a need for entertainment, and kafenia, owned by lepers, sprouted.