Salt-works Museum

A tourism project meant to enhance the cultural history of the west Sicilian coast.

The Nature directed preserve of salt-works in Trapani e Paceco, guests the salt-works museum inside a very old windmill with its warehouse. It gathers and preserves the tools used by the salt-workers: shovels, bats, ropes, wheelbarrows and baskets; it also shows by mean of several pictures and panels the traditional production technologies.

A tourism project meant to enhance the cultural history of the west Sicilian coast. The museum finds its room inside an old building a sort of fortress-farm from the XVII c. where they ground the salt. At its side there is in fact a big wind-mill, and it gathers and preserves the tools used by the salt-workers: shovels, bats, ropes, wheelbarrows and baskets; it also shows by mean of several pictures and panels the traditional production technologies. Several educational boards show the life-cycle stages and there it is possible to admire any working tool used in this centuries-old activity.  The salt cultivation technologies are the same since ages, in XVII c. the mills that were used to to grind the gathered salt, became even a mean by which they could raise the sea-water and the Archimede screw was added as a tool. The sea water comes into the pools which are several and different for they deepness and extent in order to make it evaporate leaving the big rock salt. There are five different kinds of pools each of them working in its particular way: Fredde e retro-fredde, ruffiane, calde e caseddare. The fredde pools are those along the coast and the sea comes into them through a little gate. as the water evaporate and the salt comes out it is gathered and brought on the side areas called aironi. There are mountains of salt covered with tiles until it will be ready to be  properly refined. The canals all along the salt-works had had a very important part when the salt was carried by the schifazzo a typical sailing boat produced in Trapani specifically in order to be used in the salt-works.