Tindari
Encyclopedia
Tindari anciently Tyndaris or Tyndarion (Greek
: , Strab.
; , Ptol.
) is a small city (a frazione
) in the comune
of Patti
, in the Province of Messina in Sicily
, between Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto
and Cefalù
.
Tindari has a famous sanctuary
and is also famous for the poem "Vento a Tindari", written by Salvatore Quasimodo
.
bounded by the Punta di Milazzo on the east, and the Capo Calavià on the west, and was distant according to the Itineraries 36 miles from Messana (modern Messina). It was a Greek
city, and 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. The original settlers were the remains of the Messenia
n exiles, who had been driven from Naupactus
, Zacynthus, and the Peloponnese by the Sparta
ns 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. At a later period we find it mentioned as espousing the cause of Hieron, and supporting him during his war against the Mamertines, 269 BC. On that occasion he rested his position upon Tyndaris on the left, and on Tauromenium (modern Taormina
) on the right. Indeed the strong position of Tyndaris rendered it in a strategic point of view as important a post upon the Tyrrhenian, as Tauromenium was upon the Sicilian sea, and hence we find it frequently mentioned in subsequent wars. In the First Punic War
it was at first dependent upon Carthage
; and though the citizens, alarmed at the progress of the Roman
arms, were at one time on the point of revolting to Rome, they were restrained by the Carthaginians, who carried off all the chief citizens as hostages. In 257 BC, the Battle of Tyndaris
took place off Tyndaris, between that city and the Liparaean islands, in which a Roman fleet under Gaius Atilius Regulus
obtained some advantage over the Carthaginian fleet, but without any decisive result. The Roman fleet is described on that occasion as touching at the promontory of Tyndaris, but the city had not yet fallen into their hands, and it was not till after the fall of Panormus (modern Palermo
), in 254 BCE, that Tyndaris expelled the Carthaginian garrison and joined the Roman alliance.
We hear but little of Tyndaris under the Roman government, but it appears to have been a flourishing and considerable city. Cicero
calls it nobilissima civitas and we learn from him that the inhabitants had displayed their zeal and fidelity towards the Romans upon many occasions. Among others they supplied naval forces to the armament of Scipio Africanus the Younger, a service for which he requited them by restoring them a statue of Mercury
which had been carried off by the Carthaginians. and which continued an object of great veneration in the city, till it was again carried off by the rapacious Verres
. Tyndaris was also one of seventeen cities which had been selected by the Roman senate
, apparently as an honorary distinction, to contribute to certain offerings to the temple of Venus
at Eryx
. In other respects it had no peculiar privileges, and was in the condition of an ordinary municipal town
, with its own magistrates, local senate, etc., but was certainly in the time of Cicero one of the most considerable places in the island. It, however, suffered severely from the exactions of Verres and the inhabitants, to revenge themselves on their oppressor, publicly demolished his statue as soon as he had quit the island.
Tyndaris again bore a considerable part in the war between Sextus Pompeius
and Octavian (36 BC). It was one of the points occupied and fortified by the former, when preparing for the defence of the Sicilian straits, but was taken by Agrippa after his naval victory at Mylae, and became one of his chief posts, from which he carried on offensive warfare against Pompey. Subsequently to this we hear nothing more of Tyndaris in history; but there is no doubt of its having continued to subsist throughout the period of the Roman Empire
. Strabo
speaks of it as one of the places on the north coast of Sicily which, in his time, still deserved the name of cities; and Pliny
gives it the title of a Colonia
. It is probable that it received a colony under Augustus, as we find it bearing in an inscription the titles of Colonia Augusta Tyndaritanorum. Pliny indeed mentions a great calamity which the city had sustained, when (he tells us) half of it was swallowed up by the sea, probably from an earthquake having caused the fall of part of the hill on which it stands, but we have no clue to the date of this event; The Itineraries attest the existence of Tyndaris, apparently still as a considerable place, in the fourth century.
Numerous inscriptions, fragments of sculpture, and architectural decorations, as well as coins, vases, etc. have also been discovered on the site.
. The woman accidentally dropped her baby into the ocean and the Madonna made the land rise to save the baby. The sands of Marinello have taken shape of the profile of the Madonna.
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: , Strab.
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
; , Ptol.
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
) is a small city (a frazione
Frazione
A frazione , in Italy, is the name given in administrative law to a type of territorial subdivision of a comune; for other administrative divisions, see municipio, circoscrizione, quartiere...
) in the comune
Comune
In Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
of Patti
Patti
Patti may refer to:* Patti , including people with this name* Patti, Sicily* Patti, Punjab, India* Patti, Uttar Pradesh, India* Patti caste, a group of people* Patricia, a given name...
, in the Province of Messina in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, between Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto
Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto
Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto is a town and comune of about 50,000 inhabitants in the north coast of Sicily, Italy, 40 km from Messina towards Palermo. It belongs to the Province of Messina.-History:...
and Cefalù
Cefalù
Cefalù is a city and comune in the province of Palermo, located on the northern coast of Sicily, Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea about 70 km east from the provincial capital and 185 km west of Messina...
.
Tindari has a famous sanctuary
Sanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
and is also famous for the poem "Vento a Tindari", written by Salvatore Quasimodo
Salvatore Quasimodo
Salvatore Quasimodo was an Italian author and poet. In 1959 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times". Along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Eugenio Montale, he is one of the foremost Italian poets...
.
History
Tyndaris was situated on a bold and lofty hill standing out as a promontory into the spacious bay of the Tyrrhenian SeaTyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy.-Geography:The sea is bounded by Corsica and Sardinia , Tuscany, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata and Calabria and Sicily ....
bounded by the Punta di Milazzo on the east, and the Capo Calavià on the west, and was distant according to the Itineraries 36 miles from Messana (modern Messina). It was a Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
city, and one of the latest of all the cities in Sicily that could claim a purely Greek origin, having been founded by the elder Dionysius
Dionysius I of Syracuse
Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder was a Greek tyrant of Syracuse, in what is now Sicily, southern Italy. He conquered several cities in Sicily and southern Italy, opposed Carthage's influence in Sicily and made Syracuse the most powerful of the Western Greek colonies...
in 396 or 395 BC. The original settlers were the remains of the Messenia
Messenia
Messenia is a regional unit in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, one of 13 regions into which Greece has been divided by the Kallikratis plan, implemented 1 January 2011...
n exiles, who had been driven from Naupactus
Naupactus
Naupactus or Nafpaktos , is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nafpaktia, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
, Zacynthus, and the Peloponnese by the Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
ns 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
Abacaenum
Abacaenum , was an ancient city of Sicily, situated about 6.5 km from the north coast, between Tyndaris and Mylae , and 13 km from the former city.-History:...
. 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
Timoleon
Timoleon , son of Timodemus, of Corinth was a Greek statesman and general.As the champion of Greece against Carthage he is closely connected with the history of Sicily, especially Syracuse.-Early life:...
after his landing in Sicily. At a later period we find it mentioned as espousing the cause of Hieron, and supporting him during his war against the Mamertines, 269 BC. On that occasion he rested his position upon Tyndaris on the left, and on Tauromenium (modern Taormina
Taormina
Taormina is a comune and small town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy, in the Province of Messina, about midway between Messina and Catania. Taormina has been a very popular tourist destination since the 19th century...
) on the right. Indeed the strong position of Tyndaris rendered it in a strategic point of view as important a post upon the Tyrrhenian, as Tauromenium was upon the Sicilian sea, and hence we find it frequently mentioned in subsequent wars. In the First Punic War
First Punic War
The First Punic War was the first of three wars fought between Ancient Carthage and the Roman Republic. For 23 years, the two powers struggled for supremacy in the western Mediterranean Sea, primarily on the Mediterranean island of Sicily and its surrounding waters but also to a lesser extent in...
it was at first dependent upon Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
; and though the citizens, alarmed at the progress of the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
arms, were at one time on the point of revolting to Rome, they were restrained by the Carthaginians, who carried off all the chief citizens as hostages. In 257 BC, the Battle of Tyndaris
Battle of Tyndaris
The Battle of Tyndaris was a naval battle of the First Punic War, which took place off Tyndaris in 257 BC. Tyndaris was a Sicilian town founded as a Greek colony in 396 BC located on the high ground overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea in the Gulf of Patti. Hiero II, the tyrant of Syracuse, allowed...
took place off Tyndaris, between that city and the Liparaean islands, in which a Roman fleet under Gaius Atilius Regulus
Gaius Atilius Regulus (consul 257 BC)
C. Atilius M. f. M. n. Regulus Serranus was a Roman Republican consul who twice held the consulship in the middle of the 3rd century BC. His elder brother, father, and grandfather were all consuls....
obtained some advantage over the Carthaginian fleet, but without any decisive result. The Roman fleet is described on that occasion as touching at the promontory of Tyndaris, but the city had not yet fallen into their hands, and it was not till after the fall of Panormus (modern Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
), in 254 BCE, that Tyndaris expelled the Carthaginian garrison and joined the Roman alliance.
We hear but little of Tyndaris under the Roman government, but it appears to have been a flourishing and considerable city. Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
calls it nobilissima civitas and we learn from him that the inhabitants had displayed their zeal and fidelity towards the Romans upon many occasions. Among others they supplied naval forces to the armament of Scipio Africanus the Younger, a service for which he requited them by restoring them a statue of Mercury
Mercury (mythology)
Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
which had been carried off by the Carthaginians. and which continued an object of great veneration in the city, till it was again carried off by the rapacious Verres
Verres
Gaius Verres was a Roman magistrate, notorious for his misgovernment of Sicily. It is not known what gens he belonged to, though some give him the nomen Licinius.-As governor:...
. Tyndaris was also one of seventeen cities which had been selected by the Roman senate
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
, apparently as an honorary distinction, to contribute to certain offerings to the temple of Venus
Venus (mythology)
Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
at Eryx
Eryx (Sicily)
Eryx , was an ancient city and a mountain in the west of Sicily, about 10 km from Drepana , and 3 km from the sea-coast...
. In other respects it had no peculiar privileges, and was in the condition of an ordinary municipal town
Municipium
Municipium , the prototype of English municipality, was the Latin term for a town or city. Etymologically the municipium was a social contract between municipes, the "duty holders," or citizens of the town. The duties, or munera, were a communal obligation assumed by the municipes in exchange for...
, with its own magistrates, local senate, etc., but was certainly in the time of Cicero one of the most considerable places in the island. It, however, suffered severely from the exactions of Verres and the inhabitants, to revenge themselves on their oppressor, publicly demolished his statue as soon as he had quit the island.
Tyndaris again bore a considerable part in the war between Sextus Pompeius
Sextus Pompeius
Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius, in English Sextus Pompey , was a Roman general from the late Republic . He was the last focus of opposition to the Second Triumvirate...
and Octavian (36 BC). It was one of the points occupied and fortified by the former, when preparing for the defence of the Sicilian straits, but was taken by Agrippa after his naval victory at Mylae, and became one of his chief posts, from which he carried on offensive warfare against Pompey. Subsequently to this we hear nothing more of Tyndaris in history; but there is no doubt of its having continued to subsist throughout the period of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
speaks of it as one of the places on the north coast of Sicily which, in his time, still deserved the name of cities; and Pliny
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
gives it the title of a Colonia
Colonia (Roman)
A Roman colonia was originally a Roman outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city.-History:...
. It is probable that it received a colony under Augustus, as we find it bearing in an inscription the titles of Colonia Augusta Tyndaritanorum. Pliny indeed mentions a great calamity which the city had sustained, when (he tells us) half of it was swallowed up by the sea, probably from an earthquake having caused the fall of part of the hill on which it stands, but we have no clue to the date of this event; The Itineraries attest the existence of Tyndaris, apparently still as a considerable place, in the fourth century.
Current situation
By the 19th century, the site of Tyndaris was wholly deserted, but the name was retained by a church, which crowned the most elevated point of the hill on which the city formerly stood, and was still called the Madonna di Tindaro. It is c. 180 m above the sea-level, and forms a conspicuous landmark to sailors. Considerable ruins of the ancient city, are also visible. It occupied the whole plateau or summit of the hill, and the remains of the ancient walls may be traced, at intervals, all round the brow of the cliffs, except in one part, facing the sea, where the cliff is now quite precipitous. It is not improbable that it is here that a part of the cliff fell in, in the manner recorded by Pliny Two gates of the city are also still distinctly to be traced. The chief monuments, of which the ruins are still extant within the circuit of the walls, are: the theatre, of which the remains are in imperfect condition, but sufficient to show that it was not of large size, and apparently of Roman construction, or at least, like that of Tauromenium, rebuilt in Roman times upon the Greek foundations; a large edifice with two handsome stone arches, commonly called a Gymnasium, but the real purpose of which is very difficult to determine; several other edifices of Roman times, but of wholly uncertain character, a mosaic pavement, and some Roman tombs.Numerous inscriptions, fragments of sculpture, and architectural decorations, as well as coins, vases, etc. have also been discovered on the site.
Legends
Local legend tells that the lagoon was created after a pilgrim who came to see the Madonna refused to pray to the Madonna because she was blackBlack Madonna
A Black Madonna or Black Virgin is a statue or painting of the Virgin Mary in which the Virgin Mary is black. The term was especially applied to those created in Europe in the medieval period or earlier...
. The woman accidentally dropped her baby into the ocean and the Madonna made the land rise to save the baby. The sands of Marinello have taken shape of the profile of the Madonna.