This is the last village of the Sitia District near the border with lerapetra, and it is reached by a road that branches off the main road along the south coast. It is 25 km far from Ierapetra. The area is covered in pine trees and has plenty of water from springs. The Venetians listed it as Schinocapsala with 162 inhabitants in their 1583 census.

The name comes from the tree - skinos or schinos - the mastic tree (Pistacia Lentiscus) which in combination with a derivative of - kapsalizo, Ι scorch, means «the place where the scorched mastic trees are». There are two alternative spellings of the name in Greek. The church of Ayios Georgios has very fine mural paintings. The little hamlet Mavros Kolymbos also belongs to this village.