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These included fenced and covered storerooms for the conservation of the nets, (SLIDES
9-12) boats and tools, (SLIDE 13) and areas for the preparation and conservation of tuna in
salt or oil (initially using wooden barrels and then tin). Buildings were also needed to house all

the workers who remained on site during the months of activity (April-June or July-September,
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depending on the passage of tuna along the coast) and to provide essential services to the tuna
fishing community (taverns, bread ovens, chapels) . The architecture of the different tonnare
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also varied according to the average volume of production recorded over the years and was,
therefore, based on the importance of the site and on the strength of the site’s profits in relation
to its operational costs. Frequent abundant catches in a tonnara necessitated the expansion of
its structures which had to be defended not only during the active months but throughout the
year since the tonnara storehouses contained boats and tools as well as barrels of processed
tuna that were to be sold locally and abroad.

Generally speaking, the 16 and 17 centuries represented the golden age of tuna fishing
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in Sicily and consequently the heyday of tonnara architecture (SLIDES 14-20). However,
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even if there was a significant correspondence between the building of the towers and forts to
defend the island and the development of facilities for the fishing industry, this did not mean
that an increase in productivity was determined by copious investments. The use of relevant
capital made it possible for ever greater numbers of owners and tradesmen to “lower”
increasingly elaborate tuna nets and traps. But the reasons for the success of any fishing season

are complex and primarily linked to the biological and reproductive cycles and the behaviour
and migrations of the Mediterranean tuna.
At any rate, it should be pointed out that during these centuries this type of fishing was of
particular interest to bankers, entrepreneurs, aristocrats and merchants because of its potential
for generating great profits, despite the associated high risks. It is not a coincidence that the
high costs of this type of fishing led to the creation of innovative companies of shareholders
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(caratari) that contributed capital in predetermined fixed shares (carati) .
Referring to the archival material, including the most reliable authors and the rich

historical cartography available regarding the tonnara sites built in Sicily from the Middle Ages
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until the end of the 19 century, one finds no less than 85 place-names corresponding to both
large and small fishing complexes. For some, only the name remains, making them almost
impossible to locate, while for others, it is possible to trace the decline in production and

8 R. Sarà, Dal mito all’aliscafo. Storie di tonni e di tonnare, Palermo, 1998; Idem, “Splendore
decadenza e spegnimento delle tonnare siciliane. Una breve rivisitazione millenaria”, in G.
Doneddu – A. Fiori (edited by), La pesca in Italia tra età moderna e contemporanea.
Produzione, mercato, consumo, EDES, Sassari, 2003, pp. 500-506.
9 R. Lentini, “Favignana nell’800: architetture di un’economia”, in Lo Stabilimento Florio di
Favignana. Storia, iconografia, architettura, Soprintendenza BB.CC.AA., Trapani, 2008, pp.
15-257.
10 O. Cancila, Storia dell’industria cit.; M. Gangemi, “La pesca del tonno e del pesce spada tra
Calabria e Sicilia in età moderna e contemporanea”, in G. Doneddu – M. Gangemi (edited by),
La pesca nel Mediterraneo occidentale (secc. XVI-XVIII), Puglia Grafica Sud, Bari, 2000, pp.
161-177; N. Calleri, Un’impresa mediterranea di pesca. I Pallavicini e le tonnare delle Egadi nei
secoli XVII-XIX, Unioncamere Liguria, Genova, 2006, pp. 71-78.
11 R. Lentini, “Economia e storia delle tonnare di Sicilia” cit..

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