I trabocchi d'Abruzzo : another treasure to be conserved



The "trabocchi" are strange and complex fishing machines, hoisted on stilts, and almost miraculously supported by a web of wires and boards. The "trabocchi"are made of lightweight architecture, one could say air, but solid, able to withstand the weight of the sturdy fishing net and the stress of storms at sea.

They are not an architectural element stable, but dynamic, in constant relationship with the forces of nature, whereby their ethereal structures interact continuously, as at each sea pieces lose more or less important, and after every storm, they need to be adjusted and repairs.To repair them think "“i traboccanti " depositaries and custodians of an ancient and fascinating art, seemingly primitive and improvised, but actually evolved as the most complex engineering techniques. The materials used are extremely varied and were initially linked to the local availability: elm, spruce and acacia were the most commonly used woods, together with hemp rope. Today we shall see very well the wires and the railway sleepers: the important thing is that all materials are used strictly for recycling. Despite the variety of timbers and materials, however, the "trabocchi"are very harmonious and elegant in the complex game of wires, ropes and poles that are intertwined, making them similar to "colossal spiders," as the famous poet Gabriele D'Abruzzo described them.

Much of the charm that emanate the "trabocchi", and that is attracting tourists and visitors from abroad, mainly derived from the places where they are located. In most cases, trabocchi are located along the ledges on the coast, where it forms a point on the sea, and where departs from the shore a row of rocks that can reach an advanced stage on the water, so you can allow fishing on a deep mirror, which can exploited currents that line the coast. Fascinating is also the technique used to fishing from trabocchi: the large nets are lowered into the sea with a winch fixed at the center of the rotating platform. From time to time, are raised a little above sea level. The trapped fish, mostly mullet, bream, garfish, and blue fish in general, are suspended above the water, the dense network in the cable, flashing in a flash of light, until they are brought up with a landing net (the " volega ").

The origins of the overflows are still partly obscure. It seems certain, however, that their construction dates from the eighth century. AD, when farmers and shepherds, not experts in waves and boats, however, sensed that they could supplement their agricultural harvest, projecting on the open sea with the really true extensions of the earth, or with piles planted on the rocks below. The first overflowing, therefore, were not fishermen, but farmers who understood that, with construction reaching advanced positions on the artificial sea water could be drawn from the sustenance necessary to supplement the meager fruits offered by the cultivation of their awkward and not very fertile coastal lands.


Today, after a period of low use and neglect, overflows are back in the spotlight, thanks to a law of the Abruzzo Region, enacted in 1994, which promotes recovery, considering them important cultural and environmental heritage, and true works of art to be transmitted to posterity.Thanks to this law, many overflowing, now in a state of decay, were restored and made functional, becoming the true reason of attraction of the coast where they arise.Their primitive architecture, the old networks, the tools work tell stories of times past and give off a vintage charm, which fires the imagination and stimulates the curiosity of all who the mysterious world of overflows are combined.

To know more about the Trabocchi see also our seggested itinerary and don't forget to contact us for your tailored itinerary.

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