Marzamemi, a small seaside village in Sicily, takes its name from the Arabic "Marsa al-hamen," meaning "bay of turtle doves." Its main activity is fishing, and the village is surrounded by the Ionian Sea. Marzamemi is famous for its tuna fishery, the second most important in Sicily after that of Favignana, although today it operates only occasionally every five years.The town's main square, called Piazza Regina Margherita, is located in the historic center and houses two churches dedicated to St. Francis of Paola, the patron saint of the place. The square is surrounded by fishermen's cottages, which date back to the 1600s, the year the tuna fishery was built. Many of these little houses are uninhabited, but one of the most characteristic is the Casa del Forno, which was equipped with a large brick oven and supplied bread to all the inhabitants of the tonnara.In front of the harbor are two islets, and on the smaller one stands the Casa Rossa (Red House), which belonged to Vitaliano Brancati's family. Marzamemi is an evocative place that has attracted the attention of cinema, having been used as a set for several films, including Gabriele Salvatores' "Sud" and Giuseppe Tornatore's "L'uomo delle stelle." In addition, the village hosts the International Frontier Film Festival, which is held at the end of July and reached its 11th edition in 2011.
