Throughout the 18th century, the demand for sulphur, a mineral used in the production of gunpowder, was constantly growing and led to the opening of several mines in central Sicily. In the 19th century, underground mines replaced the open-pit ones, which until then had satisfied the island’s market and were called pirrere (a name originally used for the stone quarries). Many new mining plants were built, mining techniques were refined and the knowledge about the sulphur cycle increased. This cycle is characterised by three phases: extraction, transport and processing of the ore.

To each phase of the sulphur mining cycle were linked different knowledge and different skilled workers. Workers of the transport phase were less specialised, more exploited and underpaid. There were carusi, very young boys who transported great quantities of ore from the mines to the sulphur processing plant; pirriaturi, who extracted the ore from the quarries in extremely dangerous conditions; and the capomastro, the foreman supervising the entire production cycle. The dangerous and extremely tiring life in the mines is mentioned in several pieces of literature, including the Pirandello’s story of Ciaula discovers the moon, in which the protagonist, Ciaula, is a caruso who spends his life inside the mine and knows its dark and alienating side. Several Sicilian writers talked about them, including Pirandello and Verga.

The areas most affected by the mining phenomenon were those bordering the cities of Caltanissetta, Enna and Agrigento, and around these towns a large economic sector developed that made them the largest exporters of sulphur. Until the 1950s in central Sicily, mines were not only an economic driver but also an impulse for urbanisation and demographic growth. As a result, the following drop in demand and the withdrawal of mining sites led to severe employment and demographic decline in the island’s centres that dedicated their productive efforts to the mining cycle. Today many sites are in a state of abandonment but some of them are sites of industrial archaeology, can be visited and are included in the island’s heritage revaluation routes.

 

Reference:
Buttitta I. E., Mascherati di zolfo. Spazi Sociali e Simboli Rituali in Sisto P. e Todaro P. (a cura di) La Maschera e Il Potere, Progedit, Bari, 2014, pp. 133-175
Giacomarra M.G., I beni demoetnoantropologici in Sicilia. Itinerari di documentazione e fruizione delle testimonianze di cultura popolare, Fondazione Ignazio Buttitta, Palermo, 2016
Gristina S., Pirrera G., Un Itinerario Archeologico Integrato Sul Cammino Dell'Antica Trasversale Sicula per Valorizzare Il Patrimonio Culturale Delle Miniere in Sicilia in Currà E., Docci M., Menichelli C., Russo M., Severi L. (a cura di), Stati Generali Del Patrimonio Industriale 2022, Marsilio, Venezia 2022, pp. 871–887
Marchese D., Di sale e di zolfo… Viaggio turistico letterario nella plaga centrale della Sicilia centrale in Famoso N. (a cura di), Le nuove vie del turismo in Sicilia, A&G CUECM, Catania, 2015
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REI Libro dei Saperi -Saperi della civiltà mineraria (Agrigento) https://reis.cricd.it/reisicilia/details/2/121 (last visited 09/07/2022)
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REI Libro dei Saperi - Saperi della civiltà mineraria (Enna) https://reis.cricd.it/reisicilia/details/2/127 (last visited 09/07/2022)
REI Libro dei Saperi - Saperi della civiltà mineraria (Lercara Friddi) https://reis.cricd.it/reisicilia/details/2/140 (last visited 09/07/2022)
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