map of Crete Schinokapsala is a mountain village in the Lasithi part of the island of Crete and can be reached from the southern coastal road via three different exits. The distance to the sea is 6 to 8 kilometers depending on the route. The village lies at the foot of the Thripti mountain at a little more than 400 meters altitude and there are beautiful views of the sea. Schinokapsala is a quiet village, but not completely deserted, where mostly older people live. In the area there are many water sources (such as Psychro) and the area that surrounds and thus the village is fertile and green, with many pine forests and olive groves. The village once had quite a few inhabitants, but in the last few decades the number of inhabitants has shrunk dramatically, from nearly 500 inhabitants in 1981 to fewer than 200 in 2001. Most inhabitants have left for the coastal towns, the beaches and the city of Ierapetra. In Schinokapsala and just outside the village on a hill you see abandoned and derelict factories.

In Schinokapsala there are refurbished and painted houses with pots of flowers in front of them, and dilapidated, vacant houses next to each other. There are two churches in the village, including the Byzantine Saint Georgios church, which is located in a field on the lower east side of the village. If you walk through the main street of Schinokapsala and look around you cannot miss it. The Saint Georgios church is surrounded olive trees. by It contains murals, but the church was closed when we visited the village. There are not many facilities in Schinokapsala, except for a kafenion.