In 1204 A.D. the Crusaders who conquered Contantinople divided the provinces of the Byzantine Empire between themselves. Crete was sold to the Venetians by Boniface, the Marquis of Momferato.
In 1597 fortifications began and the island became impregnable by military experts of the day. But in 1645 the Turks invaded and laid seige to Spinalonga in 1745. In 1898 Crete was declared autonomous under the sovereignty of the Sultan. Many turk families left the island but many stayed only to leave in 1903 when Spinalonga became a leper colony. The leper colony became the last colony in the world to close in 1957. The thirty lepers left were transported to the mainland.
