During your summer holiday in Favignana, you certainly cannot miss a visit to the former Florio factory or the Tonnara di Favignana, to experience a journey into the flourishing past of the tuna factory and what it represented for the economic development of the island of Favignana.
The factory was the place where the equipment, anchors and boats of the slaughter were kept. The Tonnara di Favignana, officially called Ex Stabilimento Florio delle tonnare di Favignana and Formica, is an ancient tuna factory, with an adjoining factory for the conservation of fish, located in Favignana, one of the three magnificent islands of the Egadi archipelago.
With its 32 thousand square meters, of which 3/4 are covered, it is one of the largest tuna fisheries in the Mediterranean. In 1841 the Florio family rented the tuna fishery for the slaughter from the Pallavicini family of Genoa. The islands of Favignana and Formica were purchased and the fishing rights acquired in 1874, by Ignazio Florio who called the architect Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda and expanded and renovated the tuna fishery, building the factory for tuna conservation.
He had in fact introduced the revolutionary method of preserving tuna in oil after boiling and canning. The tuna cut into pieces was cooked in 24 large boilers, still visible today, and then left to dry. In another large room the milk was processed using machines and welding machines. At the universal exhibition of 1891-92 Florio also presented innovative tin cans with key opening.
With the construction of the plant, the renewed impetus given to the fishing and marketing of bluefin tuna on the main national and foreign markets was amply rewarded by success, both in terms of image and profit. The works, started by the technicians of the Superintendence for Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Trapani, ended in 2010, making it a splendid example of industrial archaeology. Inside, a space is used as a museum, with multimedia rooms, and in the rest various ethno-cultural events are held.
Entrance is only in paid guided groups.
