Trabucchi
Ancient Fishing Tradition
If you travel along the Gargano coast between Vieste and Peschici you can't help but notice strange wooden structures jutting out along the
Adriatic Sea. These fishing platforms are known as trabucchi and they are part of the ancient Gargano sea-faring
tradition. The name derived from the word trabocchetto meaning trap.The trabucchi structures came into existence
about three hundred years ago as a way to fish when sea conditions were too bad to take out the boats. Local
historians have traced back the structures to the times of the Fenici, Semite people who were great navigators
and traders.
Flexible Design
Looking fragile and unsafe, the structure is made strong by the interlacing of beams and ropes. They are
extremely flexible and resistant to the fury of the sea.Stakes or hollow poles are driven into the rocks as the
structure is built approximately 5m from the shore or cliff. Once the walkway and platform are built, ropes
supporting a large fishing mesh net are lowered into the water. The nets are placed either north-west or south-east
to take advantage of the currents.
Intregal Part of the Landscape
Though the trabucchi tradition has long gone, every year in June a trabucchi celebration takes place where
tourists can watch the trabucchi at work. Many have been restored and reconstructed over the years but today they
no longer have an economic function. However plans are underway in Gargano area to finance a project for the
re-establishment of trabucchi fishing industry (mainly for tourism). Trabucchi and the impressive towers (which
were built to protect the coast from Turkish invasion) are an integral part of the Gargano landscape.
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