🇮🇹MARZAMEMI - sycylijskie miasteczko jak z bajki.

MARZAMEMI – an Instagrammable old fishing village with a now-closed tuna factory. The founding of Marzamemi in the 10th century is attributed to the Arabs. The origin of the name Marzamemi is controversial: some believe it derives from the Arabic words marsa ("port," "bay") and memi ("small"), meaning a small port. Others believe the name derives from the Arabic marsà al-ḥamāma, meaning "turtledove bay," "due to the abundant migration of these birds in spring." The village was founded around a harbor, which later became a fishing port and developed thanks to this activity, still widely practiced today. Since 1600, the main fishing activity in the area has been tuna fishing. In 1752, local barons and town owners completed the construction of a palace, a tuna fishery, a church dedicated to Our Lady of Monte Carmelo, and sailors' houses. In subsequent years, warehouses were built, which still stand along the main road. These were used to store barrels of wine, which were to be shipped by sea to Liguria and France, as well as thousands of tons of salt produced by the two salt mines of Morghella and Marzamemi. At the end of the 19th century, a large wine press and a steam mill were also built, which was later converted into a distillery. A port deep enough to accommodate "steamboats," onto which wine was loaded directly through special pipes, was also built. In 1912, a factory was built in Marzamemi for the processing of salted tuna, and later, tuna in oil. Two fish slaughters were performed daily in Marzamemi: one in the morning and one in the early afternoon. Tuna fishing was very abundant between the wars, but after World War II, it began to decline, and the cannery was eventually closed in 1969, although small-scale fishing still takes place. FUN FACT - In 1959, a local fisherman accidentally discovered the wreck of an ancient Byzantine merchant ship, likely dating back to the 6th century, during the reign of Justinian, about a kilometer off the coast of Marzamemi. It had sunk while transporting prefabricated architectural and decorative elements for the construction of a church. #Marzamemi #Sicily #Italy #SicilianTown #Travel #Italy2025 #SicilyTravel #Italy #FairytaleItaly #TravelVlog