map of Crete Hrisopigi is one of the mountain villages in the district of Lassithi in the eastern part of Crete. The name of the village means "Golden Springs". Hrisopogi can be reached if you take the winding road from Koutsouras leading north into the hills and the mountains into the direction of Stavrochori. On your way you will pass the Agios Fanourios chapel and then a path leading up to the Agios Konstantinos church and a 30 meter high waterfall. The road goes zigzagging through Stavrochori towards the next villages of Lapithos and Chrisopigi.

The distance to Koutsouras is 11.5 kilometers. Hrisopigi is situated at an altitude of 400 meters at the foot of the mountain Koprokefalas and has about 150 inhabitants. Before you drive into the village there is a long row of large eucalyptus trees along the side of the road. The village makes a more lively impression than nearby Stavrochori or Lapithos. There are not only older people here, we also see some children. In the village there are three churches, the largest of which dates from 1898. There is a large village square with a taverna and there are some amenities. Surrounded by woods and olive groves Hrisopigi makes a nice impression. In the narrow streets people have put flowers in front of their houses and grapes grow along the walls. Who climbs up to the church in the village has a nice view over Hrisopigi and the fertile valley around it. If you follow the tarmac road further north you will drive through the mountains and end up in Sitia.

During the Turkish occupation Hrisopigi had one of the largest Ottoman populations and was an administrative centre for a large part of the east of Crete. Before 1955 the village was called by its Turkish name Roukaka, but nowadays the village owes its name to a village school teacher and it was renamed after the church, the Panangias Hrisopigiotissas. Today Hrisopigi no longer as important as it once was and most people in the village live of agriculture and farming.