A lofty, jagged tongue of land looking down on the intense blue of the sea, an hour's drive from Palermo. Its narrow coves conceal solitary strips of sand and pebbles often accessible only from the sea. The fishing village of Scopello is small but rich in tradition and it has succeeded in maintaining its identity: the few houses, the baglio (bailey, or courtyard), a church, the faraglioni (rock stacks), and the tuna fishery. The Scopello tuna fishery, one of the oldest in Sicily but no longer in use, is a concrete testimony of a once flourishing industry. It conjures up the fascination of a place long abandoned, a sensation enhanced by the silence that surrounds it, broken only by the plashing of the waves. Still intact are the buildings where, in the "death chamber", the cruel procedure of the mattanza took place, and the warehouse where the fish were stored; the anchors used for the nets are also still visible.
 

Different details of the Scopello Tuna fishery

(click on the photos to enlarge)