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Schiza Island

COUNTY: Messinia MUNICIPALITY: Pylos-Nestor

Schiza is an uninhabited island southwest of Foinikounta which belongs to the Oinousses cluster. Its older name was Kavrera or Kambrera. It is the biggest island of the cluster and the findings from the byzantine era bear witness of a historical past. There are vestiges of an earlier byzantine settlement and an old well with fresh water.

The cave Mavri Trypa (black hole) is unexplored and many legends are linked to it. The locals believe that it used to be a pirates’ lair. The deep waters around Schiza island are filled with shipwrecks, as this trade route was one of the busiest since the Antiquity between the east and the west. Today the island is used again, after a 20-year pause, as a firing range by the Greek Air Force. So, the access is forbidden. The island is included in the Natura 2000 Network.