ITS23 SEC Visit to Marzamemi – old fishing village

Marzamemi is a charming village of Arabic origin. Its name derives from the Arabic word "Marsà al hamen" which means Baiadelle Tortore. Marzamemi is as old as the tonnara, it was a Regia tonnara built under Spanish rule. In 1642 it was sold to the Baroni Calascibetta of Piazza Armerina. In 1752 the palace of the Prince, the church dedicated to the Madonna del Carmelo and the fishermen's houses were built. The inhabitants of the village were all devoted to fishing, Marzamemi was already well known, since the mid-1600s for the tonnara, which was the most important in Sicily.  In 1912 a factory was built in Marzamemi for processing salted tuna and then tuna with oil. 

Frederica, the guide showed the students the most important buildings of the village, told them about the history and nowadays.They visited the birthplace of the founder of tuna factory, They also visited the tuna factory, there they could buy local productsand they could walk at the beach and in the narrow streets. They met a local comedian who entertained people with showing thema parrot, a dog and a little goat. After the cultural visit they came to hos families for lunch.

Visiting new places and learn new interesting facts about its history, geography and culture is important for general knowlgede of eachperson. With Erasmus mobilities our students enrivch their lives and they break stereotypes and fight against xenofobia. The environmentalissues were lso presented to them during the whole trip.