Abandoned fishing port of the tuna vessels in Bonagia by Silva Wischeropp

About "Abandoned fishing port of the tuna vessels in Bonagia"

by Silva Wischeropp

About the artwork

This mysterious photographic image was taken in Bonagia (Tonnara di Bonagia), near Trapani, on the magical island of Sicily in southern Italy.
The motif shows very old, dilapidated wooden and fishing boats of the former tuna fishermen now lying abandoned on the beach of the bay, on the west coast of Sicily. The picture was taken in August 2019 with the Nikon D800.

In Bonagia, in front of a small charming harbour, is the Tonnara di Bonagia, one of the most important and oldest tuna processing plants in the area.
It belonged to the Burgarella family and in the 16th century it was a baglio with a clear dual function as a production site and a defensive installation. In fact, the watchtower complemented the tonnara. Of this ancient complex, only the tower, a church and a central courtyard remain. The present building dates from the 17th century, although the tonnara was probably already in use in ancient times or since the 13th century.
Today it has been dismantled, its components sold and removed to build an accommodation facility for tourists. This also includes the tower of the old tonnara, built from the end of the 16th and in the 17th century, which had a defensive function in connection with the adjacent tonnara.
In front of the tower you can admire the historic boats, called muciare, which used to be used for tuna fishing. Inside the tower, since 2019, there is the Museum of Maritime Activities (Museo delle attività marinare), where old tools for catching and processing tuna are exhibited and where you can also see the model of a tonnara. The new tower of Bonagia, built near the old tonnara and whose central structure has four small corner towers, is one of the best preserved monumental towers in western Sicily.