Tonnara of Bonagia

In Bonagia, in front of a small and picturesque harbor, there is the Tonnara di Bonagia, one of the most important and ancient tuna nets of the territory. Belonged to the family Burgarella, in ‘500 was a beam with a clear dual function of production centre and defense. The sight watch tower completed in fact the tonnara. The tower, a church and a central courtyard remain from this ancient structure. The actual building is datable to the XVII century, although the tonnara had to be already active both in the antiquity and from the XIII century. Today the tonnara has been disarmed, its components sold and removed to create a tourist-hotel complex. Part of this complex is the Tower of the old Tonnara, built between the end of the XVI and the XVII century with a defensive function linked to the adjacent tonnara. In front of the tower you can admire the historical boats, the so-called Muciare of the old tuna fishery. Inside the tower, from 2019, there is the Museum of Maritime Activities that houses ancient tools for fishing and tuna processing and a model of tuna trap is also visible. The New Tower of Bonagia located near the old Tonnara, however, with its central body, equipped with four corner towers is one of the best preserved monumental towers of western Sicily.