Sul limitare - About limiting

To deal with the lighthouse, then, means to unveil the theoretical value of the object beyond its technical and typological aspect. In the first place, it means to recognize that it is an essential part of the coastal landscape. Secondly, it means to explain the dynamics set in motion by the conflict it self. Last but not least, it means to clarify the latent meaning of the waving boundary outlined by earth and sea since time immemorial. If this true for every coastline, it is even truer for the Sicilian one. More than elsewhere, the historical role played by the lighthouse in Sicily mirrors the complex ambiguity of the Mediterranean toward which the island leans. Setting sail from these premises, I will explain the relevance of the sea for Sicily, borrowing from some illustrious Sicilian writers. Subsequently, I will move from the symbolic into the descriptive, by giving accounts of some actual lighthouses.