Page 1 - the_tuna

The Tuna-fishing Structures in Sicily: an Identarian Architectural
Heritage
Rosario Lentini

Maurice Aymard has explained why 16 and 17 century royal authorities and viceroys
1
th
th
2
financed the construction of an exceptional defensive apparatus along the Sicilian coast .
*
(SLIDES 2-7) Given a scenario in which ties between the opposite shores of the Mediterranean
were characterized by conflict, and at the same time, formal relations and commercial exchange,
there was the need to protect the Sicilian population and the coastal cities from periodic
incursions by pirates and Turks. But, above all, it was necessary to safeguard the preindustrial

4
5
3
sugar cane refineries and tuna processing plants by fortifying the harbours and ports and
constructing watch towers for armed defence .
6
Though sugar refining in Sicily ended in the 17 century , the thousand year-old method
7
th
of fishing tuna (the tonnara) was still being practiced well into the 20 century. Surprising
th
architectonic vestiges, still visible despite the passage of time, human neglect, or worse, outright
demolition, are suggestive of how much wealth the island once produced. During the productive
cycle of the tonnara - from capture to commercialization - these fortified citadels housed
owners, middlemen, accountants, an articulated hierarchy of tuna fishermen, plant workers,
and even prisoners. On the outside, civil and religious authorities abounded, as did tax agents
and local and foreign merchants.
Up until the mid-20th century, this particular kind of fishing used a system of fixed nets
and large underwater traps, (SLIDE 8) completely different from usual deep sea methods, and
entailed the construction of large buildings and functional work spaces appropriate to the
productive cycle.

1 M. Aymard, “Uno sguardo sulla Sicilia: le coste e i territori”, in M. Scarlata, L’opera di Camillo
Camiliani, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Roma, 1993, pp. 114-117.
2 L. Dufour, Atlante storico della Sicilia. Le città costiere nella cartografia manoscritta 1500-
1823, A. Lombardi, Palermo, 1992, p. 30; C. Polto, La Sicilia di Tiburzio Spannocchi, Istituto
Geografico Militare, Firenze, 2001; F. Negro – C. M. Ventimiglia, Atlante di città e fortezze del
Regno di Sicilia 1640, edited by Nicola Aricò, Sicania, Messina, 1992.
* Slide-number of the specific powerpoint file.
3 C. Trasselli, Storia dello zucchero siciliano, S. Sciascia, Caltanissetta-Roma, 1982, p. 265; A.
Morreale, “Lo zuccherificio e l’impatto sull’ambiente in Sicilia tra XV e XVII secolo”, in CEHA,
II, Madeira, 1999.
4 O. Cancila, Aspetti di un mercato siciliano. Trapani nei secoli XVII-XIX, S. Sciascia,
Caltanissetta-Roma, 1972, pp. 133-160; Idem, Storia dell’industria in Sicilia, Laterza, Roma-
Bari, 1995, pp. 65-72; F. Benigno, Il porto di Trapani nel Settecento. Rotte, traffici, esportazioni
(1674-1800), Trapani, 1982, pp. 79-104; R. Lentini, “Economia e storia delle tonnare di Sicilia”,
in V. Consolo, La pesca del tonno in Sicilia, Sellerio, Palermo, 1986, pp. 32-56.
5 G. Simoncini, “La Sicilia marittima fra XV e XIX secolo”, in G. Simoncini (edited by), Sopra i
porti di mare. III – Sicilia e Malta, L. S. Olschki, Firenze, 1997, pp. 9-69; M. D’Angelo, “Porti e
traffici marittimi in Sicilia fra Cinquecento e Seicento”, in G. Simoncini, op. cit., pp. 71-110; G.
Cardamone - M. Giuffrè, “La città e il mare: il sistema portuale di Palermo”, in G. Simoncini, op.
cit., pp. 159-192.
6 S. Mazzarella – R. Zanca, Il libro delle torri, Sellerio, Palermo, 1985; F. Russo, La difesa
costiera di Sicilia dal XVI al XIX secolo, Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma, 1994, tomi 2; A.
Palazzolo, Le torri di Deputazione nel Regno di Sicilia (1579-1813), ISSPE, Palermo, 2007.
7 A. Morreale, Insula dulcis. L’industria della canna da zucchero in Sicilia (secc. XV-XVII),
Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Napoli, 2006, p. 225.

1