Traditional salt harvesting
Salt is made in salt-fields, consisting of evaporation and crystallisation basins. Seawater is led from evaporation to crystallisation basins according to the principle of gravitation, or is aided by pumps. At Fontanigge, they used to be driven by wind wheels, while at Lera the Austrians introduced, about a hundred years ago, a modernised procedure with the use of motor pumps.
About one fifth of all basins are crystallisation basins, in which salt is finally made, once seawater has travelled there through evaporation basins, evaporating gradually. In crystallisation basins, the petola is cultivated (a few mm thick layer of algae, gypsum and minerals), which prevents the mud mixing with salt.
During salt-making, the salters use some very traditional tools. Salt is raked with special scrapers in large heaps. The strained salt is stored in special warehouses.