1. The Nocito Coral Museum
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The Nocito Coral Museum was intended to narrate and preserve the memory of the extraordinary coral fishing epos in Sciacca, that took place between 1875 and 1914: a brief but intense period of time that profoundly shaped the territory, both economically and socially.
The exhibition path develops through the point of view of a family who actually experienced that event. The Nocito family has been working in the coral and jewelry sector in Sciacca since 1905, when the fishing season, which was due to end in 1914, was still in full swing.
The exhibits are the result of a long and passionate research project spanning over thirty years, conducted by Peppino Di Giovanna, grandson of the company’s founder. His interest in the history of coral began in 1994, during a conference he promoted and dedicated to the topic, which sparked an investigation aimed at reconstructing a now largely forgotten memory, hidden behind the legend of the discovery attributed to the fisherman Bertu Ammareddu.
Today, the Nocito Coral Museum serves not only as an exhibition space, but also as a documentation center, thanks to the presence of a rich specialized library dedicated to the history of Sciacca coral.
2. Navigation and the location of coral reefs
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The first room of the Nocito Coral Museum introduces the visitor to the maritime context in which the discovery and exploitation of the coral reefs of Sciacca took place.
The exhibition features historic navigation instruments—including compasses and sextants—used in the 19th century, along with model ships and boats, period nautical charts, and tools used by master shipwrights for building and maintaining boats. The exhibition reaches its end with historic photographs of Sciacca’s port and harbor, precious testimonies to local maritime life.
Of particular note is a nautical chart made in 1888 by the warship Marcantonio Colonna, based on the previous English chart no. 186. It represents the first complete mapping of the main historical coral reefs of Sciacca.
The map documents, along a south-western direction and in an almost aligned arrangement, three important deposits:
the 1880 reef, approximately 34 miles, located approximately halfway between Sciacca and Pantelleria.
Near the second reef, an underwater formation can also be found that can be traced back to the Graham Bank, linked to the famous episode of the appearance of Ferdinandea Island, which emerged in 1831 and disappeared a few months later.
Another map, dated 1856, offers a different and significant perspective: the wording Coral R.k. (“Coral reef”) appears next to the Ferdinandea volcano. This evidence suggests that, in England, the presence of a coral reef was already known well before its official discovery in 1878.
the 1875 reef, approximately 16 miles from the coast;
the 1874 reef, approximately 24 miles;
3. Ferdinandea
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In the summer of 1831, about 25 miles off the coast of Sciacca, the brigantine Gustavo spotted smoke rising from a boiling sea: it was the beginning of an extraordinary event. Within days, between violent explosions, roars, and towering columns of ash and fire visible even from the coast, an underwater volcano emerged from the waters of the Strait of Sicily.
The eruption continued for weeks, fueling the formation of new land. In August, the activity subsided, revealing a black, smoking island, about a kilometer and a half wide and up to 70 meters high, composed of ash, lapilli, and lava fragments.
Its location, at the center of the Mediterranean routes, immediately made it a subject of interest and contention among the European powers. The English, coming from Malta, claimed to be the first to land and named it “Graham”; the French claimed an earlier landing, calling it “Julia” because it emerged in July; others gave it the name “Nerita”.
Ferdinand of Bourbon, King of the Two Sicilies, in turn claimed possession of the island, which emerged off the coast of his kingdom. He sent the flagship Etna, and Admiral Cacace proclaimed it Bourbon territory, naming it “Ferdinandea”.
As diplomatic tensions between the powers grew, nature took its course: the island, fragile and unstable, was rapidly eroded by the autumn and winter storms. By December of that same year, 1831, it had completely disappeared below sea level.
Today, the rocky reef lies approximately eight meters below sea level, a destination for divers and a testimony to a unique event in the history of the Mediterranean.
4. Coral: from plant to animal
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For a long-time coral, that shows itself underwater as a red branch decorated with small white “flowers”, was considered a plant. Only during the 18th century, Henri de Lacanze-Duthiers’ studies allowed us to reconstruct its entire life cycle, playing a decisive role in understanding its biological nature.
Today we know that coral belongs to the group of anthozoans and is closely related to the jellyfish. In the world there are thousands of coral species, but just a few of those can be used in a jewellery shop. Among these, the most relevant is the Corallium rubrum, known as the Mediterranean red coral, widespread in the Mediterranean Sea and in some restricted areas just outside of the Strait of Gibraltar.
A coral branch is, in fact, a colony of tiny organisms, known as polyps, which resemble small jellyfish with eight white tentacles. These tentacles secrete a calcareous substance that builds the rigid structure of the branch, on the surface of which they live connected from an organic tissue known as coenosarc.
The corals anchor themselves to the solid substrates of the seabed, as rocks. They prefer darker environments: while being able to live in shallow depths, they tend to develop in ravines, caves or zones protected from direct light.
In the Mediterranean Sea, red coral is still a widespread species and it’s not considered at risk, that’s why it’s not included in CITES’ lists. It grows in areas characterised by constant currents, required for providing nutrition.
The stretch of sea in front of Sciacca, with the wide formation of Graham’s Bank, represents an environment particularly suitable for its growth.
Outside the Mediterranean, the main precious coral species are found in the Pacific Ocean waters, like the so-called Japanese coral. Unlike Corallium rubrum, these species are listed in CITES appendices, being considered at risk and, because of that, subjected to specific protective measures.
5. Sciacca’s coral: origin and characteristics
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Sciacca’s coral is the only coral variety in the world named after a city. The name is linked to its unique nature: despite belonging to the species Corallium rubrum, the only precious variety in the Mediterranean, it stands out as a subfossil coral.
The so-called “Sciacca’s Reefs” were not places where live coral grew, but rather vast accumulation deposits. The branches, originally developed on the slopes of volcanic formations, collapsed over time and settled on the seabed, forming large deposits. Radiocarbon analysis has shown that this coral dates back thousands of years, with ages reaching approximately 18,000 years, to the edge of the Wurmian period, corresponding to the end of the last glaciation.
The accumulation mechanisms are most likely linked to the intense volcanic activity of the Strait of Sicily. In this area, in addition to Ferdinandea Island, there are numerous submerged volcanic cones, now inactive, formed at the contact zone between the African and European plates. Over a very long period of time, these phenomena have favored the formation of impressive subfossil deposits.
According to estimates from Merchant Marine records, no less than 19.5 million kilograms of coral were extracted from the three reefs of Sciacca, a quantity equal to approximately twice the weight of the Eiffel Tower.
The long permanence of the coral branches on the seabed, immersed in volcanic sediments, has profoundly altered their characteristics. The color tones range from orange to salmon pink, often streaked with dark veins that give the artifacts a unique appearance.
The physical properties are also altered: the coral appears harder and, once worked and polished, can take on an almost glassy sheen. When struck together, the branches produce a clear and distinctive sound, so much so that in local tradition it is said that Sciacca coral “sings”.
6. Stradanus’ Incision
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Coral has been fished since ancient times.
One of the oldest testimonies is an incision from 1590, made by Jan Van der Straet, known as Stradanus, who worked in Italy, at Palazzo Vecchio, in Medici-era Florence, where he met, and was probably inspired by, Giorgio Vasari, the author of the work “La nascita del corallo” (The birth of coral).
Giovanni Stradanus’ incision has been reproposed many times in the following centuries in different versions. From Mallet’s 18th-century versions to the latest polychrome one from the start of 19th century.
It describes coral fishing in Sicily. The place should be the city of Messina, as can be inferred from the presence of two opposite shores.
Fishermen are naked men who submerge only with a pair of goggles (specillo) and re-emerge with coral branches in hand.
That makes us think that, at that time, coral lived just a few meters below the surface.
The Latin inscription reads:
“Coral is fished from the skilled and cautious Sicilian (fisherman), with a specillo fixed before the eyes, when the sea is calm and the winds die down. The branch becomes, when taken out from the water, hard and red; while before was soft and green coloured”.
This fake belief that ties the coral to the plant world, probably derived from Greek myth of the origin of coral, will stay intact in the centuries, almost right up to modern times.
7. Coral fishing
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For centuries, Trapani has been the main center for coral fishing and processing in the Mediterranean. Documented evidence of this activity dates back to the 15th century, and it reached its peak between the 17th and 18th centuries, when Trapani’s workshops reached levels of artistic excellence recognized throughout Europe. The works produced during this period, of extraordinary quality, became part of the treasures of European courts and are today exhibited, among other places, in the collections held at the Pepoli Museum in Trapani.
Coral fishing was carried out using specific tools, including the so-called Ingegno: a cross-shaped wooden structure, weighted down with stones, to which bundles of nets were attached, often already deteriorated to increase their capacity to hold the branches. Lowered to the seabed, the Ingegno allowed the coral to be tangled in the nets and pulled from the substrate, bringing it back on board.
This system, used for a long time, proved unsuitable for the Sciacca reefs, characterized by subfossil coral deposits. In this context, alternative tools were introduced, such as the Barra Italiana, consisting of a sturdy metal shaft dragged along the seabed with bundles of nets, and the Codata, a simpler system consisting of a weighted cable also equipped with nets.
These techniques, particularly invasive for the marine environment, were gradually abandoned and finally banned in 1989 by a European directive. Today, coral fishing in the European Mediterranean is permitted exclusively to specialized divers, operating within strict limits and at depths of up to approximately 110 meters, using helium-based breathing gases.
The Sciacca reefs, located at depths between 170 and 220 meters, are currently inaccessible, which helps to preserve a natural and historical heritage of exceptional value.
8. The discovery of Sciacca’s coral
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The city of Sciacca entered the history of coral fishing quite by chance in 1875. Founded in the Arab period on the site of the ancient Roman baths known as Aquae Labodes, Sciacca flourished during the Norman period thanks to the wheat trade. The wheat, transported from the hinterland by mule, was collected at the ‘Caricatore’ and subsequently loaded onto ships in the town’s roadstead, which, although lacking a proper harbour until the early 20th century, was a thriving commercial centre.
It was in this context where, one night in early May 1875, the fisherman Alberto Maniscalco, known as Bertu Ammareddu, set out for a shoal at around 16 miles from the coast. Whilst hauling in the longline, an unexpected event changed the course of history: a branch of red coral emerged from among the hooks.
Aware of the value of his discovery but unfamiliar with the techniques required to harvest it, Maniscalco sold the coordinates of the reef to other local fishermen in exchange for three thousand lire, a considerable amount for the time. However, as they too were inexperienced, they turned to the fishermen of Trapani, who boasted a long tradition of coral harvesting.
The news spread rapidly throughout the Mediterranean Sea. Sciacca became a destination for fishermen from many regions, particularly from Torre del Greco. In the following years, two further coral beds were discovered, in 1878 and 1880, fuelling an actual coral rush.
The influx is extraordinary: it is estimated that, following the discovery of the third shoal, around 1,800 vessels carrying over 17,000 fishermen arrived at the same time, compared with a local population of around 13,000. The town experienced a sudden and rapid growth, with the birth of new economic activities, including mills, pasta factories and general stores.
However, the abundance of coral led to a rapid decline in the market. In 1887, the enormous quantity of product flooding the market caused prices to plummet, leading to the ruin of many merchants. To stem the crisis, the government suspended fishing for four years. In 1892, however, under pressure from fishermen, particularly those from Torre del Greco, the industry was reopened.
Fishing continued, despite being in gradual decline, until 1914. With the outbreak of the First World War, the activity came to a halt and was never resumed. The large quantities of unsold coral that had accumulated had by then drastically reduced the value of this precious material, making the end of an era for Sciacca.
9. Coral’s apotropaic value
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During history, humans met coral and loved it since far times: findings of this material have been attested in Neolithic funerary contexts, testifying to its premature symbolic and decorative value.
In ancient times, Greek explained its origin to a myth. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses is told the tale of Perseus, who, after killing the Gorgon Medusa, willing to free Andromeda, put the creature’s severed head on the shore and its blood, in contact with the algae, transformed them in rigid red branches: that’s how, according to the myth, the coral was born. From this tale, derived a belief that endured for centuries, that said that the coral was a vegetal organism, soft and green in water and hard and red when exposed to air.
With Christianity, coral didn’t lose its charm nor its symbolic value. To the old beliefs, new meanings were conceived: the red from Medusa’s blood got associated to Christ’s saving blood and coral branches started to appear in various representations form Renaissance. Jewellery and necklaces, usually composed from 33 elements, assumed a devotional value, while amulets like horns, “fig shaped” hands and apotropaic figures kept on being made out of coral, particularly in the tradition of southern Italy.
Sicily as well holds significant testimonies of such practises. The Scursuni, coral amulets that depicted hybrid creatures, half snake half fish, were considered formidable instruments for protection, just as the umbilical bands in coral, applied on newborns with apotropaic and thaumaturgic purpose, to defend them from illnesses and negative influences.
A particularly relevant example is preserved in Sciacca, being the Madonna del Soccorso Statue, that is solemnly decorated and carried in procession two times per year, February 2nd and August 15th. Between the precious elements for its decoration kit, there are many coral jewels, including an umbilical band, worn by the Baby, proof of the persistence of symbolic traditions in the contexts of Christian devotion.
10. The years of oblivion
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The enormous quantity of coral extracted by Sciacca’s three subfossil deposits was exported in most of the world. At the end of the great fishing season, ended in 1914, the market suffered a collapse: big storage units were full of unsold coral and many merchants went bankrupt.
In Sciacca, branches of smaller sizes, considered as they were worth nothing, were thrown away like garbage. Still today, in the city’s historic junkyards, the so called “earth coral” can be found, testimony of that age of abundance and waste.
Throughout Italy, coral jewellery lost its social prestige. Women from the upper middle class stopped wearing them, considering them as having no economic value. What stayed alive, however, was the coral’s symbolic and protective value, to which apotropaic properties had always been attributed.
In some places, like in Rome, became widespread the habit of gifting coral necklaces to wet nurses, so that their protective power would be transmitted with the breast milk they gave to the babies. Also, the king Victor Emmanuel III adopted this practice by gifting precious decorations to the wet nurses of his children.
Until the 1950s, in Sciacca, coral was seen as an item of little value. In occasion of the Carnival, necklaces were worn as simple festive decorations, while wandering merchants traded them with objects of daily use, like dolls or artificial flowers.
Only starting from the 70s and 80s a slow re-evaluation was registered, also thanks to the discovery of new, although limited, coral banks. A crucial moment was represented by the 1989 European legislation, which banned the use of bottom trawling gear, particularly harmful, contributing to increase the value of the coral.
Today Sciacca’s coral is considered extremely precious. The quantities available on the market almost exclusively come from the extractions of the great fishing season, while contemporary findings are rare and limited to a few specimens accidentally gathered in the fishermen’s nets.
11. Sciacca’s coral in memory and poetry
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Sciacca’s coral has found one of its most vivid poetic expressions in the work of Vincenzo Licata, a highly regarded dialect author who came from a family of coral fishermen. He is the author of an evocative poem that recounts, in the style of a legend, a love story between Bertu Amareddu and his beloved, the beautiful Tina.
According to the story, the loss at sea of a necklace given to him by the young woman prompts Bertu to dive down to retrieve it. The search drags on in vain and, in the end, what he brings back to the surface is not the lost jewel, but a branch of coral, whilst the necklace remains forever preserved in the depths of Sciacca’s shoal. A legend which, despite its fantastical nature, has become deeply ingrained in the city’s collective imagination.
Sciacca has paid tribute to Vincenzo Licata, the author of a vast body of poetry dedicated to the sea, with a statue situated on the seafront, at the base of the port’s eastern pier.
The Nocito Museum houses the original terracotta model of the work, created by the sculptor Filippo Prestia, a significant testament to the link between art, memory and local identity.
Of particular note are also the folk songs collected by Alberto Favara, a composer and ethnomusicologist who played a central role in the study and preservation of Sicilian musical tradition. His collections also include numerous songs sung by coral divers working on the banks off Sciacca, a valuable testament to a seafaring culture deeply rooted in the local area.
12. Coral in jewellery
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Coral features very early on in human history, used primarily as a powerful protective amulet. Its branched form and intense colour, reminiscent of blood, have led to it being associated since ancient times with symbolic values of protection and vitality.
In the city of Trapani, coral – harvested by the local Jewish community from at least the 15th century onwards (the community was subsequently expelled under the Edict of Alhambra in 1492) – underwent a significant boom, particularly between the 17th and 18th centuries. During this period, it was used to create precious artefacts, mainly linked to the religious sphere, intended for European courts and the most prestigious patrons.
A remarkable example of this production is the collection housed at the Pepoli Museum in Trapani, where visitors can admire crucifixes, monstrances, ciboria, nativity scenes, boxes and lamps – all examples of the highest level of craftsmanship and refined artistic execution.
Coral also features in popular devotional traditions, as demonstrated by the collection of votive offerings at the Madonna del Soccorso in Sciacca: a rich assortment of earrings and necklaces, which show how this material, having over time become a genuine piece of jewellery to be worn, has continued to retain its original protective function.
In the modern era, coral has been reinterpreted by artists and designers, including Laura Di Giovanna Nocito, taking on new forms and meanings. Whilst being transformed into exquisite designer jewellery, it retains the symbolic, propitiatory and auspicious significance that has accompanied it since the dawn of time.
13. Coral craftsmanship: techniques and tools
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Coral craftsmanship started prematurely in Trapani, becoming, over time, a well-established technical expertise passed down from generation to generation. The techniques and tools used met an extraordinary continuity, remaining almost unchanged for centuries.
Significant witness is the experience of Bartolomeo Martin, a native of Marseille of Italian origin, that introduced in 1805 in Torre del Greco the coral craftsmanship techniques after obtaining from Ferdinand of Bourbon the privative for this activity. The tools he used were akin to those already used in Trapani, confirming the existence of a consolidated technique tradition.
The main phases of the production process stayed essentially unchanged: from the cut of the coral, done with the Tenaglione (big pincers) and the Spada (sword), to the rociatura, a grinding process with a water grinder, to the drilling done with specialised stations and the incision done with the bulino, a tempered steel blade used in the most refined works.
Only in the latest decades these traditional techniques have been sided by modern tools, often received from dental labs. It’s frequent, for example, the usage of the Doriot drill, also used in dental field until the mid-20th century together with cutters and diamond grinding wheel, that allow a faster and more precise work.
Particular attentions are required for Sciacca’s coral, whose subfossil nature requires the exportation of the surface concretion formed during the millennia. The usual presence of imperfections and internal cavities, together with the major toughness in comparison to live coral, makes the work more difficult and uncertain, but at the same time allows to obtain surfaces of extraordinary brightness, somewhat crystalline.
An essential part of the process is the use of water, necessary to avoid the overheating of the material, that may cause degradation or cracking. Lastly, one thing that remained unchanged over time, is the usage of the bulino for the more precious incisions, proof of the continuity between artisanal tradition and artistic sensitivity.
14. Coral’s value: assessment criteria
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A coral jewellery’s worth varies greatly, depending from a series of parameters that define its quality, rarity and value.
The first evaluation criterion is the species. Among the most popular is Corallium rubrum, typical of the Mediterranean, highly appreciated for its colour and compactness. Next to it there are the so-called Pacific corals, commonly referred to as “Japanese”, which come in many varieties. Sciacca’s coral, while belonging to the Corallium rubrum group, stands out for being rarer and for the difficulty to extract specimens of great diameter, characteristics that highly raise its value. Further more there are other types, like the Bamboo coral (Isididae), of a dirty white colour and that has virtually no commercial value, and it’s almost always coloured artificially to resemble more precious corals. A second fundamental parameter is the size: the larger the diameter is, the exponentially higher the coral’s value gets, a particularly significant factor for Sciacca’s coral.
Another crucial element is the presence of imperfections. Being a natural material, coral often shows inclusions and irregularities that prove its authenticity and, sometimes, raise its charm. However, specimens that are uniform and free from defects achieve higher ratings.
Colour represents another evaluation criterion. In particular, Sciacca’s coral provides an extraordinary shade variety, derived from the natural processes undergone over a long period of time whilst lying on the seabed. Some of these shades are considered particularly valuable.
Manufacturing processes also affect the final value. Some techniques can cause a major loss of material (Sfrido), like when making perfect spheres for necklaces, unlike other more conservative processes. On top of that, there is the time required for the process, that may vary significantly, depending on the manufact’s complexity.
Lastly, a central role is played by the artistic quality. There is a considerable difference between mass-produced handcrafted items and products with a high degree of creativity. It is the artist’s intervention that transforms the coral from a simple decorative material, to a unique piece, capable of fusing material, aesthetic e cultural value.
15. The artist’s hand
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The highest level in coral craftsmanship is represented from the artistic creation, where natural materials meet human sensibility and intuition.
In artisanal craftsmanship, the coral gets modelled following precise requirements: the branches are cut, contoured and transformed to obtain regular shapes, as in the case of necklaces – including the traditional gulere – composed from smooth and faceted spheres.
The relationship developed during the artistic creation is different. Here, the coral is not a mere material to be shaped, but an active participant. The artist deeply observes the branch, studies its shapes, its irregularities, its shades. Only after this process, the work can begin, which develops like a continuous dialogue between the idea and the material, a dance between the coral and the artist.
This path doesn’t lack its unexpected accidents: internal weaknesses, hidden imperfections or sudden breaks can radically modify the starting project, imposing new solutions and adaptations. Right in this tension between monitoring and listening of the material resides the essence of the artistic work.
The final result is a one-off piece, unrepeatable, where the natural shape of the coral and human intervention fuse, giving birth to an object that combines aesthetic, technic and symbolic value and that holds, in its uniqueness, a sign of the time and creativity.