Tindari

Tindari (ˈtindari; Lu Tìnnaru lʊ ˈtinnaɾʊ), ancient Tyndaris (Τυνδαρίς, Strab.) or Tyndarion (Τυνδάριον, Ptol.), is a small town, frazione (suburb or municipal component) in the comune of Patti and a Latin Catholic titular see. The monumental ruins of ancient Tyndaris are a main attraction for visitors and excavations are continuing to reveal more parts of the city. Tindari has a famous sanctuary and is also famous for the poem Vento a Tindari, written by Salvatore Quasimodo. Ancient Tyndaris was strategically situated on its prominent hill overlooking the wide bay of the Tyrrhenian Sea bounded by the Capo di Milazzo on the east, and the Capo Calavà on the west. It was connected by a comparatively narrow isthmus with the lower ground inland. It thus commanded views of the summit of Mount Etna and northwards to the Lipari Islands. It was one of the latest of all the cities in Sicily that could claim a purely Greek origin, having been founded by the elder Dionysius in 396 or 395 BC in Magna Graecia; the site is so strategic that it is a surprise it was not occupied earlier. The original settlers were the remains of the Messenian exiles, who had been driven from Naupactus, Zacynthus, and the Peloponnese by the Spartans after the close of the Peloponnesian War. These had at first been established by Dionysius at Messana, when he repeopled that city; but the Spartans having taken umbrage at this, he transferred them to the site of Tyndaris, which had previously been included in the territory of Abacaenum. The colonists themselves gave to their new city the name of Tyndaris, from their native divinities, the "Tyndaridae" or Dioscuri, and readily admitting fresh citizens from other quarters, soon raised their whole population to the number of 5000 citizens. The new city thus rose at once to be a place of considerable importance. It is next mentioned in 344 BC, when it was one of the first cities that declared in favor of Timoleon after his landing in Sicily.