Lazaretto Island, (Greek: Λαζαρέτο, also Lazareto, formerly known as Aghios Dimitrios) is located two

nautical mile A nautical mile is a unit of length used in air, marine, and space navigation, and for the definition of territorial waters. Historically, it was defined as the meridian arc length corresponding to one minute ( of a degree) of latitude. Today ...

s northeast of the city of Corfu. The island has an area of and is administered by the

Greek National Tourist Organization Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. It gets its name from the

lazaretto A lazaretto or lazaret (from it, lazzaretto a diminutive form of the Italian word for beggar cf. lazzaro) is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. Lazarets can be ships permanently at anchor, isolated islands, or mainland buildings ...

located there. During Venetian rule in the early 16th century a monastery was built on the

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

and a

leprosarium A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...

was established there later that century, after which the island was named. In 1798, during the

French occupation French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

, it was occupied by the

Russo Russo may refer to: *Russo (surname) * Russo (footballer, 1915–1980), full name Adolpho Milman, Brazilian football forward and manager * Russo (footballer, born 1976), full name Ricardo Soares Florêncio, Brazilian football defender *Russo brothe ...

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

fleet which ran it as a military hospital. During the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

occupation, in 1814, the leprosarium was again opened after renovations. After the Union with Greece in 1864 the leprosarium saw occasional use. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Italian occupation authorities established a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

there for the prisoners of the Greek National Resistance movement. There remains today the two-storied building that served as the headquarters of the Italian army, a small church, and the wall against which those condemned to death were shot.Corfu honored with a new museum
/ref>Travel to Corfu
/ref>

References

{{Landmarks of Corfu Corfu (city) Leper colonies Islands of the Ionian Islands (region) Landforms of Corfu (regional unit)