Mills of Arab origin in Western Sicily (Italy)

The history and culture of Islamic cities have for some years been the object of in-depth studies which have done much to clarify evolutionary events and the form of urban settlements of Muslim origin, both in the East and the West. The interest shown in the dwelling texture of the cities and the study of the large religious and lay buildings in the form of mosques and palaces has overshadowed the analysis of an abundant heritage of other building types - rural castles, farms, mills, waterworks, etc. Together with the road network and the organization of the crops and the agricultural productive structures, these enable us to make a more satisfactory reconstruction of the anthropo-geographic landscape of entire regions. Thus also in presenting the settlement of the Arabs in Sicily the emphasis is customarily laid on the artistic phenomena leading up to the production of the refined monuments of Arab-Norman art in famous cities such as Palermo, Monreale, Cefalù. In actual fact, the arrival of the Muslims caused an upheaval in the territorial, productive and administrative organization of the island. The changes to the system were particularly evident around the year One Thousand, when Muslin Sicily experienced a period of relative peace under the government of the Kalbite dynasty. During the reconnaissance work to find evidence and remains of this relatively unknown rural and cultural landscape, a group of about fifteen watermills built on the banks of several tributaries of the ancient Crimisos river were discovered in the region west of Palermo. Several 12th century travel accounts indicate that in the area, at that time, there were a number of mills, in all probability serving the needs of several townships located in the vicinity that were of Islamic origin or had undergone Islamic influence. The present work collects the results of a study carried out on this mill complex. The typological and construction characteristics are reconstructed and the functional and technical aspects of the exploitation of water energy are explored. Some light is shed also on all the transformations undergone by these structures in the course of the centuries.