Tonnara Florio's origins are so old, as well as the tuna fishing method to which it was closely connected.

It was bought in 1830 by Vincenzo Florio who soon ordered his friend architet Carlo Giachery the building structure change. The  "Quattro Pizzi" (Four Peaks) were built in  neogothical style on a quadrangular building. This was a really new experience for Giachery, mostly busy in functional planning and new materials reserch. This anomalous building puts together English Gothic with the sweetest mediterranean scenery.

Giachery, in 1852, was also ordered to design the sumac grinding windmill used for extracting tannin, a so precious good for sicilian trading.

A wing of the building was used for spending week ends having many personalities as guest: Zarina, during her stay, fell so much in love with the Tonnara building that once back in Russia wanted an exact reproduction of it in St.Petersburg. This building is still alive and it's called "Rinella".

When his golden age was over, Vincenzo Florio retired to private life, choosing the Tonnara as residence.

Tonnara was operating until the  beginning of the twentieth century: owing to tunas course changing, even the  fishing work went down stopping at all in a few few years.