Back in time
We learn from ancient popular stories that the whole estate Dirillo-Macconi was owned by the cousins Counts Lanza e San Marco; the first owned the estate of Torre Vecchia, a hill, today cultivated mostly with vineyards for quality wines; the second owned the estate situated along the seaside, at the time uncultivated and characterized by sand dunes, full of maquis (typical broom). This strip of coast, going from the river Dirillo, border between the provinces of Caltanissetta and Ragusa, extends along the seaside for about 5 km and is 1,5 km wide. Considering this estate useless, Count San Marco managed to change it with a complex outdated building called Torre Vecchia. Therefore the cousin Count became the owner of the coast, considered useless till that time because completely uncultivated and, according to that time believes, not cultivable. |
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From 1920s to 1950s
Around 1920 Count Lanza rented out the Macconi areas to farm labourers that used it to cultivate vineyards; in those years a millstone was built. In 1940 and for about 10 years lands used to be cultivated in sharecropping; sharecroppers eliminated the old vineyards and introduced for the first time the planting of vegetables on the whole field.
The sandy winds damaged the cultivation, so the sharecroppers came out with the smart idea of shelter the first rows of the plantations with the "cannizzate" – handmade structures, made with canes tied in a orthogonal way with ear stems around a central axis – protecting this way their own products. |
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From 1960s to today
Between 1950s and 1960s the "cannizzate" were replaced by arch structures made with canes. These structures were covered with plastic canvas in a rough way. This construction system was replaced with greenhouses made with pinewood boarding and chestnut stakes forming a hut structure. Nowadays the whole area is covered with steel structures.
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