onedc SM Developer/Designer

Photograph: Alamy

Spinalonga, Greece

This small rocky island off the Crete mainland
has a long history, originally as a Venetian
fortress but more recently as one of the last
active leper colonies in Europe. Patients lived
in a small community from 1903 to 1957,
running their own barber shop, church theatre
and cinema. In the 50s, when a cure for
leprosy was discovered, most of the patients
recovered and left the island. Today, visitors to
Spinalonga can still get a sense of the isolation
that must have been felt by those living there
while suffering from the disease.