Tonnara di Marzamemi, Historic tuna processing facility in Marzamemi, Sicily, Italy.
Tonnara di Marzamemi is a tuna-processing complex centred on Piazza Regina Margherita, with the sandstone palazzo built from 1746 for the Calascibetta barons, the old tuna-factory church, and fishermen's houses including the casa del forno and the casa del razionale. Five rainwater spouts carved as human faces sit on the palazzo façade, and a 1912 salting and oil-preserving plant stands beside it.
The Regia Corte granted the tonnara on 14 February 1655 to the Spanish baron Simone Calascibetta, together with Vendicari, Fiume di Noto and Santa Bonagia, for nine thousand onze; Spain was selling tuna traps and noble titles to raise capital after the Thirty Years' War. In the early years it was not operated annually, because surplus tuna was salted in wooden barrels; from the second half of the 18th century it was fished every year. The Nicolaci later held it as gabelloti. It closed on 12 June 1943, when British aircraft strafed it days before the Allied landing, and definitively in 1969.
The square is named after Queen Margherita and holds the old tuna-factory church, built in sandstone, with a small bell tower and an arch on its façade. Inside were three altars: the Madonna di Pompei in the centre, with those of Sant'Antonio di Padova and San Francesco di Paola, patron saint of Marzamemi, at the sides. The church also kept a painting of the Madonna del Carmelo.
The restored complex now functions as an event venue where visitors can explore Sicily's maritime heritage and fishing traditions at their own pace. Plan time to walk through all areas and enjoy views of both the architecture and waterfront.
The canning plant that operated here from 1912 was run for Angelo Parodi of Genoa, with Genoese specialists and a Genoese director; its tins were stamped "AP Angelo Parodi Genova - Tonno all'olio puro di oliva - Lavorazione sul posto di pesca". It closed in 1926, briefly reopened in 1937 under Preziosa Bruno di Belmonte to process blue fish landed by Palermo boats.
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