Excursion detailMessina and the Greek colony of Tyndaris - Excursions from Port
Messina was the most important port of departure for European knights on their way to the Crusades. Such a Crusade prompted the visit of Richard the Lionheart and King Philip II of France in 1190. In Messina we will see a church with bronze statues (King Christ church) and also a viewpoint, that's one of the oldest fortress in Messina. The last stop of the excursion is the cathedral of Messina with its very particular astronomical clock (the biggest in the world).
Ancient Tyndaris is located on high ground overlooking the Tyrrhenian coast about 60 kilometers west of Messina. Tyndaris was one of the most important Greek city in Sicily. Following the fall of the Empire and the arrival of Christianity, its importance continued, and in the 6th century it became diocesan see. The Sanctuary of the Black Madonna is Tindari's main religious attraction. The Saracens destroyed the city in 836.Tindari's amphitheatre was built in the 4th century BC. It has the ruins of simple temples and the so-called basilica, a fine example of Greco Roman architecture begun in the 4th century BC and successively modified for use as a meeting place. There were also baths at Tyndaris, and some splendid dwellings.
