Tindari

Tyndaris was founded in 396 BC on a headland, and the Greek and Roman site holds a theatre reused by the Romans, a basilica and houses with mosaic floors. Above them stands the sanctuary of the Black Madonna, a wooden statue of uncertain date and origin whose dark colour has produced various explanations; a large modern church was built to house it in the 1950s. Below the cliff, the Marinello lagoons form and reshape continuously as currents move sand into a shallow spit, so their outline changes from year to year; a local legend attaches a child's rescue to the shifting sand.

History

Tyndaris was one of the last cities of Sicily with a purely Greek origin, founded by Dionysius the Elder in 396 or 395 BC on a commanding hill above the Tyrrhenian Sea, with views to Etna and the Lipari Islands. The poet Salvatore Quasimodo wrote Vento a Tindari about the place (Wikipedia, Tindari).

What to look for

• The Black Madonna - a dark wooden statue in a modern sanctuary church.
• The Greek theatre - a 4th-century BC auditorium reused by the Romans.
• The Marinello lagoons - shifting sand pools that change shape yearly.
• The mosaic houses - Roman floors in the excavated quarter.

When to go

April to October; pilgrim numbers peak around the September feast. The lagoons are reached by a path from the coast road below. The site closes some Mondays.

What to expect

The sanctuary is a modern building, not historic. The lagoon shape and access change with the sand. Parking above is limited with a shuttle in season.

Nearby

The Nebrodi mountains rise inland; Milazzo is east.