Tindari, ancient Tyndaris, is 60 km from Messina and sits above the Tyrrhenian Sea over the Gulf of Patti and the Cape of Milazzo, a fabulous strategic position to control the formerly pirate-infested waters between the Aeolian Islands and Messina.
Tyndaris was first settled in 1500 B.C. but it wasn’t until 396 B.C. that Dionysius I of Syracuse turned it into a full-fledged Greek city. Then in 254 B.C. the Romans took control and built over much of the Greek infrastructure.
Among the ruins are a Greek amphitheater built in the 4th century B.C., a basilica, the remains of baths and houses, and many gorgeous mosaics; an antiquarium on site houses ancient objects found here.
More than just historical and beautiful though, this place is also absolutely tranquil. Dionysius and co. certainly had a knack for picking a good spot. Do the same . . why not take a picnic lunch and spend the day?
– Contributed by Michelle Fabio, a freelance writer who lives in her ancestors’ village in Calabria and blogs about her experiences at Bleeding Espresso
