Ex Stabilimento Florio

Historical Building Sicily, Italy

A visit to the ex Stabilimento Florio is essential if you want to experience a journey into the thriving past of the tonnara and what it represented for the development of the island of Favignana. The former Florio factory is a true jewel of industrial archeology. Today it has been restored and inside you can visit a museum.

The complex has an architecture with large arches and very high ceilings, reminiscent of the great cathedrals, giving a sense of religiosity, a place where the work had something sacred and solemn, given that it was the most important work in the 900s. Among the various environments you can find the gallery of machines, trizzana and malfaraggio (for sheltering boats), rooms serving the long battery of ovens for cooking tuna and, towering over everything, three tall chimneys. In the former tonnara today there is an archaeological museum that houses finds found in the Egadi islands (such as amphorae of various types and historical periods, prehistoric finds, a headless statue, a rostrum from the Roman era found in the waters of the Egadi), two installations holographic multimedia of great effect and suggestion where the death chamber comes to life and where the testimonies of the people who worked in this establishment are collected. And also a small room for the projection of historical films, two rooms dedicated to the display of images on fishing and tuna processing. The creation and installation of large graphic and photographic panels that illustrate the most significant moments and activities of the tonnara.