"The dammuso"

The dammuso is the flagship of the stone-man relationship.

Its origins are to be found in the period of Arab domination on the island of Pantelleria (6th - 7th century AD).

The same etymology highlights the Arab paternity of this domed construction. In fact, the verb "mdamnes" means in Arabic to build a vault and in Pantelleria "ndammusare" has the same meaning.

According to some scholars, the birth of the dammuso is to be recorded in the period of the decline of ancient Cossyra and the etymology of the word tells us this, as dammuso derives from the Latin "domus", modified into "dammus" by the Arabs. In both cases the meaning does not change as it indicates the house, the dwelling.

Another name for the dammuso is "locu", a Sicilian word, whose clearly Latin origin, locus, dates back to the period in which the Sicilians, subjects of the Eastern Empire, landed on Pantelleria following the Byzantine occupation. In ancient times, this last term, locu, indicated the house located in urbanized centers (Scauri, Tracino, Khamma), while the word dammuso indicated the country house.

There are two types of dammuso: "rutta" stone, i.e. raw stone, and "taddiata" stone.

The squared stone dammusi, whose walls are 40-90 cm thick, are found in the urban areas of Khamma, Tracino, Scauri etc. and have external plaster painted in pastel color or simply whitewashed. In rural dammusi the thickness of the walls ranges from 1 to 2 metres.

When cut stone was used and lime was introduced, the thickness of the walls was reduced to 40 cm. and the stones walled in a single row were linked with lime and earth. The external walls, previously inclined, were built plumb, the height of the two types of dammuso is around 4 metres, excluding domes.

In the dammusi there are as many domes as there are rooms. Almost never plastered on the outside, they show the dark stones exposed without the joints being grouted with lime mortar or pozzolana.

There are few openings and small dimensions, to combat the cold and the heat, even if the dammuso is a thermo-regulated and acoustically protected construction due to its lava materials and the dimensions of the walls and the thickness of the vaults.

If in the summer the external temperature is 40° in the shade, the internal temperature is 28-30°. In winter, if it is cold outside, you will feel the heat (harara) when you enter.

Usually you enter the dammuso, which is rectangular in shape, through a grassy path and to welcome you there is "u passiaturi, u pirterra", that is, a terrace with a balate or earthenware floor equipped with comfortable "ducchene" or bricked stone seats with backrests.

In the "Passiaturi" there is "a vucca da isterna" which will be discussed later.

Most of the time, "gli occhi d'archeti" overlook the terrace, that is, two round arches of a bright room with three doors, two at the front and one to the left of those who enter and which leads into the kitchen, the heart of the house in the past, because the life of an entire working day took place and the family gathered around the table in the evening. In the spacious kitchen, in front of the window, covered with majolica tiles and usually, the oven for good "home bread". Generally the oven is located either next to the dammuso or inside a compartment, a kitchen accessory.

Next to the kitchen, where there is always a built-in wardrobe with or without a door (u stipu a muro) there is a warehouse (u macaseno) for storing malaga, blonde meat, pork, winter provisions and wine (the modern pantry).

The ceiling of the kitchen, warehouse and other rooms is vaulted.

There are different types of vault: barrel, gabled, cross vault, ribbed, with lunettes and real vault. The barrel vault is the oldest and places the weight on the longitudinal masonry, it is slightly arched to allow rainwater to collect and flow into the cistern. Variant of the barrel roof is the gable roof, typical of small country churches. These two types of vaults were built until the 17th century; with the advent of lime, domed, cross-shaped, ribbed and lunette roofing was created. The real vault, which unloads its weight along the entire perimeter of the building, is made up of four segments that converge in a single central point of the room; the geometrically more complex lunette vault unloads its weight at the corners of the building. It is made up of several segments set on four arches, in their regular progression towards the center they form a rich composition of lines.

An important fact about a dammuso is the floor which in very ancient times was made of cooked earth measuring 20x20, in less ancient times it was made of majolica.

On the door, at the top, of the dammuso between the arch and the wooden plank, the "sardetta", a small closet for storing food or tools. In the dammuso, in a hidden place, the man from Pantelleria stored his money and gold objects. We are in front of the "truvatura" a real safe. It was customary to keep money even under a brick in the floor.

We leave the kitchen and enter the room from which we go, through the door, into the arches, that is, into the spacious and brightly lit room. From the room you also go to the "Kammara" from which you enter the "arkova", the bedroom with a round arch and a lower ceiling than the others, without a window. It receives air from the "Kammira" door which opens onto the arches.

"L'arkova" is a small love nest where only the double bed is accommodated. Adjacent to the "arkova" the "cammarino", a second bedroom.

In the dammuso there was no bathroom, for nighttime needs they resorted to the "cantaru", during the day they went under a tree.

Not far from the dammuso there are small buildings with dry stone walls and vaulted ceilings for the animals:

U sarduni for the donkey or mule;

U ghirbeci for the goat;

U zacchinu for pork;

U gaddrinaru for chickens;

A cuniddiera for rabbits.

Always present are "u magnanu" i.e. the vegetable garden, the aira (the threshing floor) and "u stinnituri" for Malaga.

"The air" of circular shape, had in its center a pole to support a piece of wood which was tied to the blindfolded donkey for threshing.

"U stinnituri" of rectangular shape encloses a space in rammed earth, protected on the longest side by a high dry stone wall and on the sides by two inclined walls.

The bunches of zibibbo are still arranged in the drying room to dry them in the sun to obtain the malaga, necessary for the production of passito di Pantelleria.

The bunches of zibibbo are also already immersed in the boiling solution of water and potash to obtain the blonde. For this reason, near the drying rack there is a stove made of stones walled with taio (mud).

Present next to the dammuso "U Jardinu" that is the garden, cylindrical in shape and with dry stone walls. According to the notary D'Aietti, its paternity is Arab.

There is also the palamento, a rectangular basin for pressing the grapes and the palaturi which received the juice.

In the country dammusi the pergola which decorated the façade, i.e. the façade of the house, adorned the façade with bunches of grapes made a fine display.

And always in the rural dammuso an old hoe, out of use, was walled up, taking care to leave the eyelet exposed, which was used to hold the halter of the parked donkey.

Important for its usefulness is the cistern, the rainwater tank which served and still serves for all uses. This cistern has stone walls and a vaulted roof, once less accentuated than that of the dammuso. The internal part is waterproofed with a mixture of tuff and lime up to a certain height. The cistern has an upper opening that allows you to draw rainwater, some also have a side opening which, in addition to allowing you to enter for cleaning, serves, together with the upper one, as an aeration system to keep the water fresh and oxygenated.