Crete is Greece’s largest island in terms of size – but also one of its richest in history and mythology. Phoebe Ferris-Rotman visits Spinalonga and highlights some of the island’s other top excursions

Rocky Spinalonga, covered in wild flowers and crowned by a crumbling fortress, is a short way out from the coast of the small Cretan fishing town Elounda. Its tiny size belies its historical legacy, for it has a fascinating past.

The fortress was built in 1579 by the Venetians, who once colonised Crete. They built the fort to defend the approach to the gulf against pirates and Turkish invaders.

The island’s name came from the Greek “Stin Elounda”, meaning “to Elounda” but because the Venetians could not understand the expression, they familiarised it to spina (thorn) longa (long), which was taken up by locals and remains to this day.

But the island’s more recent history is even more intriguing. When the Turks were

banished from Crete in 1898 they fled to Spinalonga and refused to leave.

In order to reclaim the island, Cretans sent a colony of leprosy sufferers there in 1904. The lepers were sent as outcasts, and were forbidden to set foot back on the mainland. To

survive, they traded crafts for food to mainlanders who arrived by boat, but were not allowed to set foot on the island.

Eventually leprosy was cured and there were fewer and fewer residents on the island. The last lepers left the colony in 1957 and the island was left empty until renewed interest and tourism made it a popular destination.

Victoria Hislop’s best-selling novel, The Island, has helped it become one of Crete’s biggest attractions.

A footpath winds the entire way around Spinalonga, and the views from different sides of the island are stunning. As the sun hits, the sea below is illuminated and turns a deep, intense blue.

A museum has been built to explain the island’s layers of history and visitors can explore the remains of 500-year-old Venetian houses, mixed with more recent stone Ottoman ruins, and the austere architecture of buildings like the dormitory and hospital used by the leper colony.

The easiest way to reach Spinalonga is on a short boat ride from Elounda, where I stayed at Aquila’s Elounda Village Resort.

Alternatively, you can take a boat from Ayios Nikolaos. Viator.com offers one-day tours for £33 including a BBQ lunch and a swim in the crystal blue waters of the Gulf

of Mirabello.

www.aquilahotels.com

Myths & legends - more Crete excursions

Rethymnon

On the opposite side of the island from Elounda is the beach town of Rethymnon. Once a Venetian port, it is one of the best-preserved old towns on the island. I caught a glimpse of a baker down one of the winding side streets, who has made baklava-style pastry sweets in the same way for the past 60 years.

Lappa

Just a half-hour ride from Rethymnon, through bright earthen-coloured hills of olive trees is the ancient Greco-Roman city of Lappa. Emperor Octavius built a water reservoir here in 27 BC which, incredibly, is still in use today.

Flowers sprout out of every nook and cranny, and the locals will convince you to have a seat and taste their olives and homemade honey Raki, liquor made of fermented grapes.

Lake Kournas

Another short ride from Rethymnon is Crete’s only freshwater lake. It’s small and shallow but well worth a visit to watch the lake change colour throughout the day as the sun shifts. You can rent pedalos and there are many tavernas overlooking the lake nearby.

Knossos Palace

Knossos was the centre of the Minoan civilisation, which predated the ancient Greeks, flourishing between 2,700 BC and 1,450 BC.

The palace, near to Heraklion, was home to King Minos and gave rise to the myth of the Minotaur in the labyrinth. Various parts of the palace have been restored and repainted, making it easy to imagine how it might have looked thousands of years ago.

Samaria Gorge

At 16km long, the Samaria Gorge is one of the longest in Europe. It takes five or six hours to walk it, and you do need a certain level of fitness, but the views and flora and fauna make up for it.

The walk brings you out at the coastal town Agia Roumeli from where you must take a boat back to Sfakia or Sougia, before taking a bus back to Chania.