Day-trip to Agios Nikolaos and Spinalonga
Our friends from France visiting Crete always stay at Emilia’s House in Prines, Rethymnon. It is a lovely 400-year-old restored house with a lot of atmospheres and perfectly private although located in a village. Beautiful cool courtyard and private pool.
This year we took them on a trip to Agios Nikolaos, we have for a long time wanted to see Spinalonga Island, and as they expressed an interest in visiting this historical place too. We decided to go for an overnight stay. We, stayed at Havania Apartments, located on the seaside with a pontoon to swim from, 200 meters from the hotel is a lovely sandy beach. We went shopping in the evening in Agios Nikolaos and had a delicious dinner at
Spinalonga Island is the little island just off Elounda and Plaka villages. Nowadays mostly known as a former leper colony. But it was long before that a fortress and an important bastion to protect the Island of Crete.
“The island of Spinalonga, From Wikipedia (Greek: Σπιναλόγκα), officially known as Kalydon (Καλυδών), is located in the Gulf of Elounda in north-eastern Crete, in Lasithi, next to the town of Elounda. The island is further assigned to the area of Kalydon. It is near the Spinalonga peninsula (“large Spinalonga”) – which often causes confusion as the same name is used for both. The official Greek name of the island today is Kalydon.
Originally, Spinalonga was not an island, it was part of the island of Crete. During Venetian occupation, the island was carved out of the coast for defence purposes and a fort was built there.
During Venetian rule, salt was harvested from salt pans around the island. The island has also been used as a leper colony. Spinalonga has appeared in novels, television series, and a short film”.
