Schiza

Schiza is the largest island of the Messinian Inousses, located opposite Finikounta. Formerly, it was called Cabrera or Carver. It is an island with an irregular shape that covers an area of ​​12 square kilometers. Its highest peak is Vigla, with a height of 201 m, located on the north side of the island. The coastline of the island is rocky with deep waters and only on the south side there is an enclosed downwind bay.

In the southwest part of Schiza, there is the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea, known as the “Well of Inousses”, with its depth reaching 5.121m.

Schiza is covered with low bushes and herds of goats graze on the land. The island is now a forbidden place because it is used as a firing range by the Air Force.

On the western side of Schiza and at a distance of 400 m from the sea, there is a wonderful and yet undiscovered cave known as “Black Hole”. The cave is drilled into Paleocene limestone. The path through the cave is very difficult to be crossed, but the spectacle of the stalactites and the stalagmites that have been formed inside the cave is absolutely stunning.

At Vigla, there are still ruins of buildings, but also fragments of pottery that mainly date back to the Roman era. A typical characteristic of Schiza are the forests with oaks that should be directly connected to the prime period of the Venetian shipyards of Methoni, since the wood of the oak was the raw material for the construction of ships.

Schiza along with the neighboring Sapienza are both integrated into the Natura 2000 network.