The patron saint of Riposto is Saint Peter, protector of fishermen, celebrated on 29 June; the cult of the Madonna della Lettera, patroness of Messina, is also important. The basilica dedicated to him, in neoclassical style, echoes on a smaller scale the façade of the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome, the work of Alessandro Galilei: the nearby church of San Pietro, begun in 1808, opened for worship in 1818 and completed in 1865, was raised to parish status in 1869.
The name Riposto comes from the Sicilian ripostu, «storeroom» or «cellar»: the town was born as a commercial port of the County of Mascali, populated only seasonally until the late 17th century because of raids by Barbary pirates. Later becoming the place where wine produced in the surrounding countryside was stored for export across Europe, its thriving port inspired Giovanni Verga, who in I Malavoglia describes it as a glimmer of hope for the Toscano family, before Bastianazzo's shipwreck.
