Colonial Deportations:Favignana

View of the wall surrounding the San Giacomo Castle (Favignana)

The graffiti (2022) depicts the Madonna of the Rosary with tunas, pierced by a dagger. It adorns the wall surrounding the Castle of San Giacomo, originally constructed between the 11th and 12th centuries, later repurposed as a penal colony by the Bourbons. he majority of Libyan deportees were held here,. The building worked as a state prison until 2010. 

Chimney stack in the former Florio tuna fishery of Favignana and Formica

During World War I, temporary labor shortages prompted the employment of Libyan deportees at the local tuna fishery, owned by the Florio family, to address the shortfall.

Front view of the monument commemorating Libyan deportees deceased on the island of Favignana between 1911 and 1919

 The monument was erected in 2000 and funded by the ISIAO (Italian Institue for Africa and the Orient).

The plaque reads: 'In memory of the Libyan deportees who perished in Favignana 1911-1919'