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determined and regulated human life and activity. Of course, not all the surviving tonnare can
become museums because ownership is often divided, making agreement about the terms of
restoration impossible. It would be desirable, therefore, that the communities in which these

structures are located create conditions favourable to the reconciliation of the needs and
legitimate interests of the property owners and the proposals by the local authorities to protect
and utilize the structures.
The restoration of the grand Stabilimento Florio (SLIDES 24-32) merits special
attention. This tuna processing plant on the island of Favignana was built in the 1880’s on the
shore near the buildings and storehouses of the ancient tonnara. Acquired by the Regione
Siciliana in the 1990’s, it has been restored with significant EU funding (about 15 million Euro)
and opened to the public in 2009. In the meantime, the search for a qualified manager at a
national or international level has also commenced. This enormous area (about 32,000 sq.

meters) is suitable for a variety of uses, including an already scheduled exhibition space.
From this perspective, next to the profit-making activities that are due to start soon –
sports facilities, hotels, etc… – cultural objectives should also be pursued in what is one of the
most evocative locations in western Sicily. In particular, I believe that the Stabilimento in
question must become not only the site of a museum for the two ancient tonnare of Formica and
Favignana, but also the preferred site of a “Historical Museum of the Tonnare of Sicily” an
expository space that would bring together material from the other ancient Sicilian fishing

structures. Such a hypothesis is supported and strengthened by environmental factors and
circumstances difficult to find or replicate elsewhere. In the first place, it should be noted that
since 1991 the area in which the Stabilimento is located has been enhanced by the creation of the
“Natural Marine Reserve of the Egadi Islands.” This is the concrete result of the need to protect
a vast area of about 54,000 marine hectares, considered of particular importance for the marine
ecosystem. (SLIDES 33-35) Secondly, the two tonnare of the Egadi Islands were historically
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the most productive not only in Sicily but, as government data show from the second half of
the 1800’s, in all of Italy. Further still, the Favignana tonnara was the largest tonnara in Italy

and represented, up until the 1960’s, the most advanced canning industry for the conservation
of tuna as well. Finally, the natural beauty of the islands exalts and amplifies the potential value
of the museum project for the local economy since a restored and renovated Stabilimento
Florio, serving as both a congress centre and museum, would attract a great deal of scientific
and conference tourism activity. The Stabilimento, therefore, has all the characteristics and
prerequisites to become the historic memory of a fundamental piece of Sicily’s preindustrial
material culture and of its centuries-old tuna fishing economy.

This identarian value which I’ve hinted at obviously does not belong exclusively to the
tonnara and does not derive only from its functional specificity and construction typologies.
Other examples of Sicily’s rich identarian legacy include the network of the agro-pastoral

17 P. Pavesi, “Relazione alla Commissione Reale per le Tonnare”, cit., pp. 101-109.

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