The manufacturing of wooden boats in Acitrezza is part of the Sicilian maritime tradition and is the result of human ingenuity passed down through generations. Aci Trezza is a hamlet of Aci Castello located in the Gulf of Catania in front of the Cyclops sea stacks and is called Trizza by the locals. Boats have always been linked to the community of Acitrezza, being an important work tool and a symbol of the town. Shipwrights build boats, both rowing and sailing, that are sturdy and suitable for adverse weather conditions.

The master sailmaker works at the construction of the sail, specifically the Latin sail dating back to the classical Greek period. He creates the sail according to the size and the intended use of the boat and the type of weather conditions. Boats can vary in size and are named depending on the kind of fishing they are intended for. The largest ones can be up to ten metres long: they are used for catching blue fish and are called sardare. Trezzote boats are characterised by the pictorial decorations made by the pingisanti. The Pingisanti paint the boats with seafaring representations and apotropaic symbols that link the fishermen to the sea and represent the deep bond between them. The symbolism of their art aims to protect against adverse events and accidents. 

Today, the art of the shipwrights is handed down in the city’s shipyard: the Rodolico shipyard. The Rodolico family has been building wooden boats for generations. Even if today the production is mainly for small pleasure boats, as wooden boats have been replaced by resin boats, the Rodolico’s continue to show the ancient techniques to guests and students, with the aim of not losing the memory and the knowledge of the seafaring township.

Traces of Trezzote boats can be found in great artworks such as I Malavoglia (a realist novel written in 1881 by Giovanni Verga, in which the deep bond between man and the sea is symbolised by the boat Provvidenza) and La terra trema (a neo-realist movie of 1948 by Luca Visconti).

 

Reference:
Aiello G., La cultura marinara, in Nobili A., Palmisano M.E. (a cura di), Ippocampo : tecniche, strutture e ritualità della cultura del mare : progetto scuola museo Regione siciliana, Assessorato dei beni culturali, ambientali e della pubblica istruzione, Dipartimento dei beni culturali, ambientali e dell’educazione permanente, Officine Grafiche Riunite SpA, Palermo, 2008
D’Agostino G., I simboli delle barche, in Nobili A., Palmisano M.E. (a cura di), Ippocampo : tecniche, strutture e ritualità della cultura del mare : progetto scuola museo Regione siciliana, Assessorato dei beni culturali, ambientali e della pubblica istruzione, Dipartimento dei beni culturali, ambientali e dell’educazione permanente, Officine Grafiche Riunite SpA, Palermo, 2008
Finocchiaro S., Le barche dei pingisanti. Le imbarcazioni tradizionali siciliane decorate alla “catanese”, Amedit - Amici del Mediterraneo, trimestrale di Letteratura, Storia, Arte, Scienza, Cinema, Musica, Costume e Società. n°13, dicembre 2012
Ruffino, G., Con la vela latina nel mare di Sicilia. Appunti dall’Atlante Linguistico Mediterraneo (ALM), Periodico bimestrale dell'Istituto Euroarabo di Mazara del Vallo,, n. 40, novembre 2019
REIS - Libro dei Mestieri, dei Saperi e delle Tecniche, Barche in Legno Trezzote https://reis.cricd.it/reisicilia/details/2/186 (utlima consultazione 04/07/ 2022)
Museo del mare Palermo, Il lavoro dei mastri d’ascia, http://www.museodelmarepalermo.it/la-marina-mercantile/il-lavoro-dei-maestri-dascia/ (last visited 05/07/2022)
Cantiere navale Rodolico, Acitrezza http://acicastello.turismo.comunelive.it/cantiere-navale-rodolico-acitrezza/ (last visited 04/07/2022)
Aci Trezza e i mastri d’ascia Rodolico, Racconti di Sicilia, 28 febbraio 2021 https://raccontodisicilia.com/2021/02/28/aci-trezza-e-i-maestri-dascia-rodolico/ (last visited 06/07/2022)
Costruire barche in Sicilia: gli ultimi maestri d’ascia in nella terra di Verga di Salvo Catalano - Gedi Visual https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz6z-Myu-hY (last visited 04/07/2022)