Egypt’s First Complete Zodiac Uncovered in Esna Temple, Luxor

Egypt’s First Complete Zodiac
Ancient Sagittarius zodiac sign found at the Esna temple in Egypt. Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities / Public Domain

A group of specialists from Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities recently made a significant discovery when they uncovered a zodiac that had never been seen before.

The zodiac is located on the roof of the southern hall of the Esna Temple in Luxor Governorate. Along with the zodiac, there were also images of gods and animals that had never been documented before.

This important discovery was made during a project that aimed to document and restore the Esna Temple, as well as showcase its original colors. The project was led by the Egyptian-German archaeological mission.

Dr. Mostafa Waziry, who is the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, emphasized that the zodiac inscriptions were not found in the previous scientific documentation of the Temple of Esna by the French Egyptologist Serge Sauneron.

Dr. Waziri also noted that this discovery would significantly increase the number of visitors, both Egyptians and tourists, who are encouraged to visit the temple to see these unique astronomical scenes, especially since there are only two other examples of complete representations of the Zodiac in ancient Egypt, both found in the Dendera Temple complex in Qena Governorate.

A complete series of 12 zodiac symbols

Egyptian officials said that the discovery included a complete series of 12 zodiac symbols painted on a light blue background. The blue background of the symbols can be seen in the images shared by the Ministry.

The photos show two figures, colored red, standing facing each other and holding hands. These figures represent the Gemini symbol. A yellow scorpion surrounded by white stars represents the Scorpio sign, and a creature that looks like a centaur with two faces, holding a bow and arrow, represents Sagittarius.

According to Dr. Christian Leitz, head of the German side of the mission, the restoration team also found depictions of three  Egyptian gods, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, and of animals, including snakes and crocodiles, as well as representations of composite creatures used by the ancient Egyptians to measure time. These included a serpent with a ram’s head and a bird with a crocodile head and a snake’s tail. Inscriptions in black ink with the names of the divine creatures were also found.

A brief history of The Temple of Esna

The Khnum Temple in Esna, also referred to as the Esna Temple, was constructed to honor the god Khnum, along with his consorts Menhit and Nebtu, their children Heka, and the goddess Neith.

The temple was built using red sandstone, and its entrance was made up of six rows of four columns each. The columns featured capitals designed like lotus leaves.

However, each column was unique and differed from the others. The temple also had inscriptions in hieroglyphics which dated back to the reign of Decius, who ruled from 249 to 251 BC.

Greek Submarine ‘Delfin’ Was the First in History to Launch a Torpedo Attack

Greek submarine
The Xifias, sister ship to the Delfin, built to the same specifications. Credit: Bibliothèque nationale de France / Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

The Delfin (“Dolphin”) was a Greek submarine in service with the Hellenic Navy during the Balkan Wars (1912-13) and the First World War (1914-18).

As well as representing a notable part of Greek maritime history, being the second submarine ever put into service by the Hellenic Navy, it also holds an important place in the broader military maritime history of the world.

In fact, the Delfin was the first submarine in world history to launch a torpedo attack against an enemy warship. This little-known but interesting chapter of maritime history is arguably an overlooked milestone in the progression of naval warfare, given the prominence submarines would gain in the Second World War and as nuclear-armed deterrents in the Cold War and contemporary eras.

Construction and specifications

The Delfin was ordered by the Hellenic Navy in 1910, just before the outbreak of the Balkan War. It was laid down the following year in the Schneider Shipyards in Toulon, France.

The Delfin was a French-built Schneider-Labeuf class submarine. Its length was 49.5 meters and it had a displacement of 360 tons when surfaced. When submerged, its displacement was 452 tons.

Submerged, the Greek submarine had a top speed of 8 knots (15 km/h), whereas on the surface it could reach a faster speed of 12 knots (22 km/h). It was powered by two Schneider-Carels diesel engines.

The sea vessel’s main armament was one 1 x 450mm torpedo tube at the bow. A total of six 4 x 450mm Drzewiecki drop-collar torpedoes were carried on board.

The Delfin was crewed by 24 submariners, as was her sister ship, the Xifias.

The Delfin is commissioned

Neither the submarine nor the torpedo were entirely new technology when the Delfin entered service with the Hellenic Navy on August 21, 1912. Nevertheless, submarine warfare was still very much in its infancy during the early 20th century.

The first officer in charge of the Delfin, Lieutenant Commander Stefanos Paparrigopoulos, was dispatched to France alongside a 17-man crew to receive training on the submarine’s operation.

However, Paparrigopoulos and his crew were unable to complete their training as the seemingly inevitable outbreak of the First Balkan War necessitated their immediate deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean theater of combat.

Thus, on September 29, the Delfin set sail from France, arriving at Corfu on October 4, just four days before the beginning of the war.

According to Zsis Fotakis, a Greek scholar of Naval History at the Hellenic Naval Academy, the crew of the Delfin raced back to Greek waters in a non-stop journey of 1,100 miles (1770 km). This confirmed the crew’s ability to effectively operate the submarine despite their relatively short training, but it also left them exhausted and less able to perform their tasks efficiently.

The First Balkan War

From Corfu, the Delfin sailed to the port of Piraeus. Here the submarine remained until October 19, which gave the crew more time to complete their training and make preparations.

The Delfin joined the main Greek fleet at its forward anchorage in Moudros Bay in Lemnos. It remained within the vicinity of Lemnos to complete diving exercises until November 20. Despite having to deal with several mechanical issues, the crew set out to patrol the waters outside the Dardanelles by day, before retiring to Tenedos at night.

On December 22, 1912, the Ottoman light cruiser Mecidiye was conducting a scouting mission in the waters surrounding the Dardanelles when it was spotted by the Delfin.

At 10:40, the Delfin launched a torpedo against the Mecidiye at a distance of 800 meters. However, the torpedo broke the surface of the water and passed the Ottoman vessel without sinking it.

Nevertheless, this was the first recorded torpedo attack by a submarine against a warship in recorded history. Earlier weapons referred to as “torpedoes” had been used by submarines before. However, these were not the same as the self-propelled ranged weapons classified as torpedoes today.

After the attempted torpedo attack, the submarine suffered further misfortune and ran aground on a shoal north of the island of Tenedos. The vessel was able to escape but could no longer submerge and was therefore forced to return to Piraeus for repairs.

The First Greek to Settle in South Australia

Greek South Australia
Tramountanas arrived in Australia in 1842. Public Domain

Georgios (or George) Tramountanas is generally credited for being the first Greek to migrate to South Australia in 1842, according to the National Archives of Australia.

Born in Athens in 1822, Tramountanas was from a family of shipbuilders and seamen who lived on Lemnos island and had connections to Thessaloniki.

He arrived at Port Adelaide in 1842 with his brother Theodoros, who soon moved to Albany in Western Australia — and who was never to be heard from again.

Georgios worked for some time in Port Adelaide before starting at Edward John Peake’s Winery in 1846 in Clarendon town. There he helped cultivate their early vines and made brandy and wines.

According to documents held in the Adelaide office of the National Archives, Tramountanas also worked as a farmer near Elliston. He showed true pioneering spirit when he moved to the sparsely-populated Eyre Peninsula in the late 1850s.

Before his marriage to Englishwoman Lydia Vosper in 1858, he changed his name to George North, since his last name, Tramountanas, means “Northern wind” in Greek. The couple moved to Port Lincoln, where George found work as a shepherd.

There, George and Lydia had their first son, George Henry, in 1861 and a year later their second son, Hero Clare. Both sons married in the 1880s and gave them several grandchildren.

In 1878, George North applied to become a naturalized settler in the Province of South Australia. He became a naturalized British subject on April 8, 1878.

Early in 1884, the couple bought land which fronted the Old Coach Road, just southeast of Bramfield. After changing the property’s name to “North Park,” it became a rest stop for travelers as teams of horses were changed over for the mail coach.

Late in life, the couple retired and lived out their final years with their son Hero and his wife Rosina at their Newland Grange homestead in Colton, South Australia. George North died on Jan. 29, 1911, and his wife Lydia passed away on November 20, 1913, survived by their two sons and 22 grandchildren.

South Australia honors its first Greek immigrant

First Greek in South Australia
George Tramountanas AKA George North, and his wife Lydia. Public Domain

The Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia honors George North as their great pioneering grandfather. A memorial stone was placed at his gravesite in 1994 and local North descendants planted an olive grove on the walkway leading to his grave.

Daryl Edmonds, Denise McEvoy, Paul Willis, and Dianne Jaspers are four Australians who are descendants of Georgios Tramountanas. They don’t speak Greek and Hellenism means very little to them personally.

Yet they were drawn to their roots, to the exact place on their continent where the incredibly brave man who sailed halfway across the world and created their Australian family once lived.

Thanks to the Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia (GOCSA), which revived the memory of Tramountanas and brought his story to a modern audience, the four Australians successfully discovered their Greek roots.

Since then, the four have spent hours on the Internet, reading archives and visiting libraries to find out as much as they can about the lives of the Norths. They have visited cemeteries, farms, and wineries, and taken trips to the places the Norths and their descendants had lived in search of clues that would lead to the man who started it all, the great patriarch of the family.

Once they had assembled a family tree and the documentation to go along with it, they started the “Tramountanas-North Association,” a group created to unite all the members of the wider North family in Australia and the rest of the world.

 

Elon Musk Sues OpenAI for ‘Betraying’ Non-profit Mission

Elon Musk OpenAI
Elon Musk. Credit: dmoberhaus. CC BY 2.0/flickr

Elon Musk has sued ChatGPT-maker OpenAI saying they had abandoned the company’s original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity rather than profit.

Musk, a co-founder and early backer of OpenAI, claims its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman convinced him to help found and bankroll the startup in 2015 with promises it would be a non-profit focused on countering the competitive threat from Google.

In a recent interview, Musk said he is “the reason that Open AI exists,” citing his past investment in the entity with his contribution of around $50 million.

“I came up with the name,” Musk told CNBC. He also said he was instrumental in recruiting key scientists and engineers at the company.

Musk says OpenAI has shifted to a for-profit model

The lawsuit, filed in a court in San Francisco late Thursday, says that OpenAI, the world’s most valuable AI startup, has shifted to a for-profit model focused on commercializing its AGI research after partnering with Microsoft, the world’s most valuable company that has invested about $13 billion into the startup.

“In reality, however, OpenAI, Inc. has been transformed into a closed-source de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft. Under its new board, it is not just developing but is actually refining an AGI to maximize profits for Microsoft, rather than for the benefit of humanity,” the lawsuit adds. “This was a stark betrayal of the Founding Agreement.”

The lawsuit follows Musk airing concerns about OpenAI’s shift in priorities in the past year. According to the legal complaint, Musk donated over $44 million to the non-profit between 2016 to September 2020.

For the first several years, he was the largest contributor to OpenAI, the lawsuit adds. Musk, who left OpenAI’s board in 2018, has been offered a stake in the for-profit arm of the startup but has refused to accept it over a principled stand, he said earlier.

Through the lawsuit, Musk is seeking to compel OpenAI to adhere to its original mission and bar from monetizing technologies developed under its non-profit for the benefit of OpenAI executives or partners like Microsoft.

The suit also requests the court rule AI systems like GPT-4 and other advanced models in development constitute artificial general intelligence that reaches beyond licensing agreements.

In addition to injunctions forcing OpenAI’s hand, Musk asks for accounting and potential restitution of donations meant to fund its public-minded research should the court find it now operates for private gain.

X, the social network owned by Musk, last year launched Grok, a rival to ChatGPT.

Related: OpenAI’s Text-to-Video Tool Sora Sets Internet Alight

Will Mamma Mia 3 Return to Greece?

Mama Mia
The first Mama Mia movie was shot in Greece. Credit: Universal Pictures

Fifteen years after the release of the original, the producer of the original Mamma Mia! movie confirmed recently that despite delays, a third installment is well on the way.

The first movie, which was shot in Greece on Skopelos, Skiathos, and in Pelion, was directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

The second film of 2018, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again,  was shot in Croatia and directed by Ol Parker.  It did not return to film on the Greek islands because of complications related to Greek bureaucracy.

The producers moved the filming location to a remote Croatian island although the story was still based in Greece. The bad press for Greece at least prompted the Greek Film Commission to streamline the process of filming in Greece and on the Greek islands.

In a recent interview with Variety, producer Judy Craymer revealed that Mamma Mia! 3 is in the works, but some people may need a little more convincing.

“I’m sure [the third movie] will happen,” said Craymer, adding that past Mamma Mia! movies also took time to come to fruition. “I’m in the privileged position that I have Universal Studios wanting to do it, who I love working with, and I have a storyline.”

“Bjorn and Benny [ABBA] always take a certain amount of convincing,” she revealed. “I don’t know how much more convincing they’re gonna have because everybody wants another film.”

Will Mamma Mia! 3 return to Greece?

The original Mamma Mia! movie, starring Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried as Donna and Sophie—the unconventional mother-daughter duo living on Skopelos, Greece—is a fun and vibrant romantic-comedy slash jukebox musical adapted from the theater production of the same name created in 1999.

Way back in 2008, Craymer convinced the Swedish pop supergroup ABBA to allow her musical to utilize their back catalog, sampling songs such as “Take A Chance On Me,” “Knowing Me Knowing You,” and “Dancing Queen.”

The band also agreed to have their tracks played in the 2018 sequel Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, starring Baby Driver’s Lily James as a young Donna.

Craymer later said that the team took a break in creating Mamma Mia! 3, as she had a Mamma Mia-themed singing competition show to produce, and the band also had their hands full with their latest virtual reality residential in London, ABBA Voyage.

But despite delays, the producer attests the third act will happen, stating: “We’ve done the television show and now maybe I’ll focus on the movie.”

For now, it is uncertain when the new movie will hit screens, but if Craymer can convince ABBA to share their musical talents once more, the sequel will be here before we know it.

The Ancient Greek Philosopher Who Said That Aliens Exist

The ancient Greeks had a variety of theories about aliens and extraterrestrial life. The ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras even believed that aliens lived on the moon.
The ancient Greeks had a variety of theories about aliens and extraterrestrial life. The ancient Greek philosopher Anaxagoras even believed that aliens lived on the moon. Credit: Georgios Liakopoulos / Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

Did the ancient Greeks look up at the night sky and ask “are we alone?” As it turns out, ancient Greek philosophers also asked this existential question. One such philosopher, Anaxagoras, proposed that alien life might exist on the moon.

Most people in ancient Greece turned to religion to explain the stars, planets, and the other elements of the cosmos. For example, most Greeks in antiquity believed that the sun’s position in the sky was determined by the solar god Helios and his path across the sky in his horse-drawn chariot.

However, some ancient Greek philosophers like Anaxagoras stopped to ponder the workings of the universe in more scientific terms.

Anaxagoras’ theory about the moon and aliens

Anaxagoras, an ancient Greek philosopher who lived between 500 BC and 428 BC, attracted both fame and notoriety during his lifetime for his astronomical theories.

The philosopher, who was born in the ancient Greek polis (city) of Klazomenai in Asia Minor, theorized that the Moon is a great rock and the Sun a fiery mass of red-hot metal. He also suggested that the other stars, like the sun, are burning hot rocks.

Although Anaxagoras incorrectly believed that the Earth was flat, he was the first to correctly explain the phenomenon of eclipses.

The Greek philosopher also had some thoughts about aliens. Anaxagoras proposed the theory that extraterrestrial life existed on the Moon, possibly on its mountains.

Exile

Anaxagoras’ views on celestial objects and extraterrestrial life proved highly controversial. They contradicted the dominant religious beliefs and views espoused by other philosophers.

According to many versions of Greek mythology, the Moon was personified as the goddess Selene, who visited the Earth according to the lunar cycle. This religious view was contradicted by Anaxagoras’ theory; that the Moon was a rocky physical body possibly inhabited by aliens.

By modern standards, Anaxagoras is recognized as a brilliant scientist and philosopher, but back then his theories earned him the ire of the Athenian state, where he lived. In fact, he was charged with impiety and forced into exile. Even though his close friend, the infamous Greek politician and general Pericles, testified in his defense at the trial, it was not enough to save him from exile.

Ancient Greek theories about the cosmos

Anaxagoras was not the only ancient Greek philosopher who attempted to understand astronomy, despite the dominant religious views of the time.

Democritus, a philosopher from Abdera who lived between 460 BC and 370 BC, proposed that the universe contained an infinite number of worlds. This contradicted the later views of Plato and Aristotle that Earth was the only planet and the universe was much smaller than envisioned by Democritus.

Democritus’ theory caught on with later philosophers who followed in his footsteps. Epicurus, who was born in Samos in 341 BC, once wrote a letter to the historian Herodotus outlining his belief that “there is an unlimited number of cosmoi, and some are similar to this one and some are dissimilar.”

The Greek Peanut Vendor of the White House

Greek Peanut Vendor White House
“Steve” Vasilakes’ business address was “1732 Pennsylvania Avenue”. Credit: Library of Congress

A Greek peanut vendor who set shop outside the White House became famous in the US in the first half of the 20th century.

Nicholas Stefanos “Steve” Vasilakes emigrated from Ligerea, Laconia, Greece, to the United States in 1910 and soon thereafter set up his hot peanuts and fresh popped popcorn cart on what actually was White House property.

He listed his business address as “1732 Pennsylvania Avenue” and reporters observed he came to represent the “little man” in America.

Greek peanut vendor at the White House gave to charity

He was described as a “burly, fierce mustached Greek” and during World War I he boldly advertised on a hand-painted sign on his cart that on specified weeks he donated all of his proceeds to the Red Cross.

Vasilakes became one of the most generous individual givers to that charity and gained widespread publicity for his patriotism.

Vasilakes sold peanuts to Presidents William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson and Warren Harding, but his best customer was President Coolidge who came to buy peanuts, munch, and talk to the vendor on the street almost every day.

President Coolidge referred to the vendor as his “contact man” with the American people.

When the District of Columbia Metropolitan police attempted to remove the peanut and popcorn cart from East Executive Avenue as a traffic menace, the president allowed the vendor to move his cart onto the sidewalk.

When asked about his friendship with Coolidge after his death in 1933, Vasilakes noted in halting English: “He talk about everything. Politics, I think no. About everything good. Good business, good prices. Everything get better. Good man.”

In 1934, a national wire story reported that the Park Police wanted Vasilakes to remove his cart from the East Executive Avenue sidewalk to ease traffic congestion, but interceded to allow him to stay.

The press reported that he became a United States citizen in 1938 and due to his accent and celebrity had a formal written statement available as a handout for the press.

And on the afternoon of Sunday 7 December the “little man” was livid. When the reporter from Washington’s Evening Star newspaper arrived outside the White House en route to a press conference, hastily called after news broke of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he found an agitated Vasilakes.

“Steve was too excited to talk clearly,” wrote the reporter. “And about all he could say was: ‘Just three months, we finish them.’”

Vasilakes sold $50,000 in war bonds

Vasilakes had become a White House fixture and during World War II his ability to sell an astounding $50,000 in war bonds from his cart was legendary.

Vasilakes capitalized on the national publicity he had received and started selling bonds by mail order. He began his war bond drive on October 28, 1942—the second anniversary of Italy’s invasion of his native Greece—with the slogan “Make a monkey out of Mussolini.”

His first customer was the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Sam Rayburn. Each out-of town purchaser also received a bag of peanuts.

Among the flowers banked by his grave at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C. were sprays of red carnations sent by President and Mrs. Roosevelt.

After Vasilakes’s death in 1943 no other peanut concession was granted on White House grounds.

Source: The White House Historical Association

Petition to Lift Immunity of Politicians in Greece Gets More than 1.2 Million Signatures

Petition Tempe Disaster
Relatives and friends of the 57 victims hold a vigil in Thessaloniki. Credit: AMNA

A petition launched in Greece to lift the immunity of politicians from prosecution following last year’s Tempe rail disaster has gathered more than 1.2 million signatures.

The petition was initiated by Maria Karystianou, the mother of Marthi, a 20-year-old girl who was among the 57 victims of the train collision, which shocked and angered Greeks, on February 28, 2023.

Maria Karystianou, who is also the president of the Accident Victims Association, launched the petition on the first anniversary of the accident saying that many questions remain unanswered in relation to the circumstances, the cover-up of vital evidence, and the fact that no Greek politician has been brought to justice, as ministers responsible have the constitutional right of immunity.

The Constitution of Greece states that any inquiry into political wrongdoing must go through Parliament and, as a result, the majority does not allow investigation. Ultimately, the crimes are written off because they fall under the extremely short statute of limitations.

Petition on lifting politicians’ immunity in Greece gathers pace

The petition signed by more than 1.2 million on Friday morning says:

“Greek citizens demand from the parliament an initiation of proceedings for the revision of the Constitution and the enactment of the law on the liability of ministers, as well as the abolition of parliamentary immunity when criminal liability arises.”

It adds that “the impunity of politicians is not consistent with morality or democracy, virtues of which we are proud.”

Karystianou notes that “justice continues to move at a slow pace,” and “now it does not inspire us with any confidence.”

Having become the voice of the 57 victims, the 180 injured, and a society that lived in a delusion about what was really happening in terms of Hellenic Railways, she has made it her life’s goal “to put those responsible in prison and be punished for all the indifference and their recklessness.”

The investigation into the accident is ongoing amidst bitterness and suspicion on the part of the families affected. The tears of those who lost their loved ones have dried, but the anger remains, still palpable. It has been one year and not one official has taken responsibility for the accident.

A Greek Parliament investigating committee has not produced any valuable results on why so many people were killed and who is responsible. Opposition party representatives have walked out of the committee, blaming the government for the “Tempe crime.” So far, 32 people have been charged while several more might follow.

Opponents of any change on the liability of politicians in the constitution argue that a minister may avoid making lawful but courageous decisions under the threat of a lawsuit.

In other words, a change of the law on accountability without careful prior study may create the opposite problem. Impunity of ministers may give way to endlessly prosecuted ministers.

Related: Relatives of Rail Tragedy Victims Mourn Their Dead at Tempe

Craco: The Greek Ghost Town in Italy’s Magna Graecia

Craco The Greek Ghost Town
The area was called “Montedoro” and inhabited by Greeks who moved inland from the coastal town of Metaponto. Credit: Maurizio Moro5153, CC BY-SA 4.0

Craco, a ghost town in Italy, located in the province of Matera about twenty-five miles inland from the Gulf of Taranto, was once inhabited by Greeks.

The medieval village of Craco in Magna Graecia is typical of the hill towns of the region with mildly undulating shapes and the lands surrounding it sown with wheat.

Around 540 AD, the area was called “Montedoro” and was inhabited by Greeks who moved inland from the coastal town of Metaponto. Tombs have been found dating from the eighth century, suggesting the original settlement dates back to at least that time.

Today, earthquakes, landslides, and a lack of fertile farming land have contributed to the abandonment of Craco.

Craco The Greek Ghost Town
The ghost town pictured from a drone. Credit: Maurizio Moro5153, CC BY-SA 4.0

History of the ghost town of Craco

The inhabitants of the town grew from 450 in 1277 to 2,590 in 1561 and averaged around 1,500 in succeeding centuries. A plague struck in 1656, killing hundreds and significantly reducing the population.

By 1799, there was enough impetus to change the feudal system, and an independent municipality was established. In 1815, it was decided that the town was large enough to divide into two separate districts.

From 1892 to 1922, over 1,300 Crachesi left to settle in North America because poor agricultural conditions created desperate times, as the land was not producing enough for the people.

During the mid-twentieth century, recurring earthquakes began to take a toll on the town. Between 1959 and 1972, portions of the village were severely damaged and rendered uninhabitable by a series of landslides.

Craco Ghost Town
Its advanced state of decay is obvious. Credit: Lutz Maertens, CC BY-SA 4.0

The geological threat to the town was known to scientists since 1910 due to Craco’s location on a hill of Pliocene sands overhanging the clays with ravines causing progressive incisions.

Now, Craco is uninhabited. Guided tours allow participants to explore the ruins wearing hard hats. From afar, Craco resembles a painting with stairways and houses stacked on top of each other.

Up close, its advanced state of decay is obvious. There are towers where no bells chime, and rusted balconies where families once hung their washing. Weeds sprout at the altar of San Nicola church, whose nave is open to the sky.

In more recent times, Craco has found fame as a film set—scenes from the Italian movie adaptation of Christ Stopped at Eboli were shot here. Christ did finally make it as far as Craco for the filming of Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ.

As beautiful as Craco is, the land and location have proven unsuitable for sustaining habitation.

Related: Why Was Italy Called Great Greece (Magna Graecia)?

Former Leper Colony of Spinalonga, Crete Gets a Makeover

Spinalonga Crete
The islet of Spinalonga will get a makeover. Credit: Greek Ministry of Culture

The former leper colony of Spinalonga just off the coast of Crete is being restored to create exhibition spaces, the Greek Culture Ministry announced recently.

The restoration of the buildings of the Leprosy Hospital is part of the ministry’s promotion and protection of the Venetian fortress.

“Spinalonga was an extremely important fortress complex of the Venetian period, but also a place charged with sad memories from the period when the island served as a leprosarium,” said Culture Ministry Lina Mendoni.

She noted how the Venetians transformed a barren rock into a strong fortress, and the Muslims transformed it into a significant commercial hub, while the patients of the Leprosy Hospital created a supportive community.

Spinalonga is also connected to Crete’s power grid which would allow constant electricity supply. The work is expected to be finalized later in March.

The tiny islet of Spinalonga, or Kalydon, as it is officially known, is located in the famous Gulf of Elounda off northeastern Crete in the region of Lasithi, next to the town of Plaka.

Originally connected to the mainland of Crete, Spinalonga was separated from the rest of Crete by the Venetians, probably in the 15th or 16th century. The entire island was then turned into a fort, as stout walls were built all around the islet.

Crete’s Spinalonga used as a leper colony

The most famous and tragic aspect of its history, however, began in the year 1903, when Spinalonga was used as a leper colony because of its isolation from the mainland.

There were two entrances to Spinalonga, one being the lepers’ entrance, a tunnel known as “Dante’s Gate.” This was so named because the patients did not know what was going to happen to them once they arrived.

However, once on the island, they received food, water, medical attention, and social security payments. Previously, such amenities had been unavailable to Crete’s leprosy patients, as they mostly lived in the area’s caves away from civilization.

One of Europe’s last leper colonies, it ceased operation only in 1957. The last inhabitant, a priest, did not leave the island until 1962, to maintain the Greek Orthodox tradition of commemorating a buried person forty days, six months, one year, three years, and five years after their death.

Spinalonga became famous worldwide following the publication of the novel “The Island” by British writer Victoria Hislop which won several awards including Newcomer of the Year at the 2007 British Book Awards. Mega Channel Greece produced a 26-episode television series called To Nisi (The Island), based on the book; the series premiered on 11 October 2010.

Today, the uninhabited islet, which has docking facilities and beaches, is one of Crete’s most popular tourist attractions. In addition to the abandoned leper colony and the fortress, Spinalonga is known for its small pebble beaches and shallow waters.