Tindari overlooks the Gulf of Patti. The archaeological finds found here are proof of its ancient history. Evidence  of its past greatness are the wide perimeter walls of the town, the Roman amphitheater, the basilica, the baths, some houses and streets with important mosaics. The theater was built with a Greek structure at the end of the 4th century BC and was later restructured in Roman times: new decorations and structures were added to make it a games’ location.

Since 1956, it hosts an artistic festival that includes dance, music, and theater. At the eastern end of the promontory, overlooking the sea, in correspondence of the ancient acropolis, there is the Sanctuary, which houses the statue of the Black Madonna, whose origins are linked to a legend. According to it, the sculpture, transported by sea, prevented the ship from leaving after it had taken refuge in the bay of Tindari to escape a storm. The sailors, gradually deposited the load on the ground, thinking that it was the problem. But only when they also brought the statue down, the ship could take back the sea. The statue was then brought onto the hill above, inside a small church that later was enlarged several times to accommodate the pilgrims, attracted by the miraculous fame of the statue. At the base of the promontory there is a sandy area with a series of small pools of water, whose shape changes following the movements of the sand. According to a legend, the beach was created after the fall of a child from the terrace of the sanctuary and here was found safe. Tindari is also the title given to a novel by Andrea Camilleri from the Montalbano series, La gita a Tindari. Before that, Salvatore Quasimodo had written the poem Vento a Tindari. In the “Verrine“, Cicero talks a lot about Tindari and the spoliations suffered by the town under Verre.