The Salt Flats Of Trapani - Ligny Tower
The salt flats consist of multiple, shallow, stepped, clay-bottom pools that originate from partitioned off seawater. The shallow pools, with added sunshine, heat, and wind, allow for evaporation of the water resulting in an increase in its salinity. Once the saline level of the water reaches a certain amount, it gets pumped with the Archimede's screw to a higher and shallower pool. Historically, windmills produced the energy to drive the pump, now the pumps have electric motors. Over time, the water gradually progresses through multiple pools.
The salt is harvested annually, in early fall, before the rainy season starts. In Trapani, they still harvest the salt manually both by skimming the surface and scooping it out with buckets. The very fine salt crystals first skimmed off of the surface of the water in July are most valuable and are called fiore di sale. The salt crystals that are manually scooped from the bottom of the pools, later in the season, are composed of larger, coarser crystals. Those are either sold as coarse salt or can be ground down to a finer composition. Historically, windmills were also used to grind the salt.
After it is harvested, the salt is piled alongside the pools to allow for drying. Due to manual harvesting of the salt, as opposed to excavator harvesting, the crystals stay clean and don't need to be further processed or purified. During drying, the salt mounds are covered with terracotta tiles to keep them clean and protect them from rain. The salt is then packaged for sale according to fine and coarse distributions. Any salt that gets dirty is sold as street salt for winter road management.
This configuration of a series of shallow evaporation pools, still in use today, was introduced by the Arabs between the C6th and C9th AD, whereas the Phoenicians first produced salt along Sicily's coast either by boiling seawater trapped in the island's many marshes or by waiting for water to evaporate from solely ONE pool. The Museo del Sale in Trapani is a family-owned and managed salt flat which has been producing salt for many generations. The salt pans, there, date from the 1400s.
The Salt Flats Of Trapani - Ligny Tower
The salt flats consist of multiple, shallow, stepped, clay-bottom pools that originate from partitioned off seawater. The shallow pools, with added sunshine, heat, and wind, allow for evaporation of the water resulting in an increase in its salinity. Once the saline level of the water reaches a certain amount, it gets pumped with the Archimede's screw to a higher and shallower pool. Historically, windmills produced the energy to drive the pump, now the pumps have electric motors. Over time, the water gradually progresses through multiple pools.
The salt is harvested annually, in early fall, before the rainy season starts. In Trapani, they still harvest the salt manually both by skimming the surface and scooping it out with buckets. The very fine salt crystals first skimmed off of the surface of the water in July are most valuable and are called fiore di sale. The salt crystals that are manually scooped from the bottom of the pools, later in the season, are composed of larger, coarser crystals. Those are either sold as coarse salt or can be ground down to a finer composition. Historically, windmills were also used to grind the salt.
After it is harvested, the salt is piled alongside the pools to allow for drying. Due to manual harvesting of the salt, as opposed to excavator harvesting, the crystals stay clean and don't need to be further processed or purified. During drying, the salt mounds are covered with terracotta tiles to keep them clean and protect them from rain. The salt is then packaged for sale according to fine and coarse distributions. Any salt that gets dirty is sold as street salt for winter road management.
This configuration of a series of shallow evaporation pools, still in use today, was introduced by the Arabs between the C6th and C9th AD, whereas the Phoenicians first produced salt along Sicily's coast either by boiling seawater trapped in the island's many marshes or by waiting for water to evaporate from solely ONE pool. The Museo del Sale in Trapani is a family-owned and managed salt flat which has been producing salt for many generations. The salt pans, there, date from the 1400s.