The trabucco (pronounced as /it/), known in some southern dialects as trabocco or travocc,[1] is an ancient fishing machine typical of the Adriatic shores of Abruzzo — famously dubbed the Costa dei Trabocchi (Trabocchi Coast) and the Gargano coast, where they are preserved as historical monuments within the Gargano National Park. These distinctive structures are prevalent along the southern Adriatic coastline, particularly in the Italian provinces of Chieti, Campobasso, and Foggia. Trabucchi can also be found on select parts of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea coast.
The renowned Italian poet Gabriele d'Annunzio was among the first to describe these fishing machines in literature. In his work "Il Trionfo della Morte" he portrays a trabucco extending from the tip of a promontory, above a cluster of rocks, likening it to a colossal spider made entirely of planks and beams. He writes, "From the furthest point of the right promontory, over a group of rocks, a trabucco was extended, a strange fishing machine, all composed of boards and beams, resembling a colossal spider..." Moreover, d'Annunzio vividly captures the trabucco’s skeletal form, resembling "the colossal skeleton of a prehistoric amphibian", bleaching white against the landscape. He describes the trabucco as a "great white skeletal structure protesting against the cliff...an erect and treacherous form in perpetual ambush, often contrasting the solitude's benignity." At hot mid-days and sunsets, it sometimes assumed formidable aspects, "…even in the most distant rocks were poles fixed to support the reinforcement ropes; countless small boards were nailed up the trunks to strengthen weak spots. The long struggle against the fury of the waves seemed inscribed on the great carcass through those knots, those nails, those devices. The machine seemed to live a life of its own, bearing the air and semblance of a living body".
A trabucco is a massive construction built from wood consisting of a platform anchored to the rock by large logs of Aleppo pine, jutting out into the sea. From this platform, two (or more) long arms called "antennae" stretch out suspended some feet above the water, supporting a huge, narrow-meshed, net (called "trabocchetto").
The morphology of the Gargano coast and of Abruzzo determined the presence of two different types of trabucco: the Garganic trabucco is usually anchored to a rocky platform, longitudinally extended to the coastline, from which the antennae depart. The variant of Abruzzo and Molise, also called bilancia, are often found on shallower coasts and therefore are characterized by the presence of a platform, transversal to the coast, which is connected by a tight bridge made of wooden boards. A bilancia has just one winch, often electrically operating, even when the sea is perfectly calm. Abruzzo bilancia also have a much smaller net than that of the Gargano trabucco. Another feature that differentiates the two types is the length and number of antennae, with more extensive antennae found in Gargano (double that of Abruzzo and Molise) in Termoli balances were more than two antennae, Gargano always two or more.[2]
According with some historians of Apulia, the trabucco was invented in the region imported from Phoenicians. However, the earliest documented existence in Gargano dates back to 18th century, during which Gargano fishermen, during that period sparsely populated, devised an ingenious technique of fishing that wasn't subject to weather conditions in the area. Trabucchi were built in the most prominent promontories, jutting nets out to sea through a system of monumental wooden arms. The development of the trabucchi allowed fishing without being submitted to sea conditions using the morphology of the rocky coast of Gargano.
The trabucco is built with traditional wood Aleppo pine - the typical pine of Gargano and common throughout the South-Western Adriatic - because this material is widely available in the region, modeled, elastic, weatherproof and resistant to salt (trabucco must resist the strong winds of Provence usually blowing in these areas). Some trabucchi have been rebuilt in recent years, thanks to public funds.[3] However, since they lost their economic function in the past centuries when they were the main economical source of entire families of fishermen, trabucchi rose into the role of cultural and architectural symbols and tourist attraction.
The fishing technique, quite efficacious, is on sight. It consists of intercepting, with wide nets, the flows of fish moving along the ravines of the coast. Trabucchi are located where the sea is deep enough (at least 6 meters), and are built on rocky peaks generally oriented southeast or north in order to exploit the favorable marine current.
The net is lowered into the water through a complex system of winches and, likewise, promptly pulled up to retrieve its catch. At least two men are entrusted with the tough task of operating the winches that maneuver the giant net. The small trabucchi of Abruzzo and Molise Coast are often electrically powered.
The trabucco is managed at least by four fishermen called trabuccolanti who share the duties of watching the fish and maneuvering.
The trabucchi are a distinguishing feature of the coastal landscape of the lower Adriatic. Their presence is also attested on the lower Tyrrhenian Sea.
Trabucchi are spread throughout the Trabocchi Coast, in the Abruzzo region, where they are called "travocchi" (in dialect of Molise and Abruzzo) in the province of Campobasso, Termoli, Chieti and south of Ortona and in the Gargano coast, but are more widely present in the area between Peschici and Vieste (where there isn't any promontory without one of these giant structures). The ancient trabucchi are protected by the National Park of Gargano, which adopted them as a sign of respect for tradition and environment of the Gargano, as a symbol of civilization, are now a favorite subject of artists and craftsmen.
See also: Trabocchi Coast. The Trabocchi Coast (Costa dei Trabocchi) is a stretch of coast province of Chieti, which includes the countries situated between Francavilla al Mare and Vasto. The coast is full of quaint fishing overflow, some of which have been converted into restaurants.
Trabucco's area of diffusion
Area of diffusion of trabocco or bilancia variants