Circuits maritimes, dynamiques commerciales et habitat côtier en Sicile orientale. Le port de Catane comme point d’observation (1820-1851)

This article describes the dynamics of maritime traffic along the Eastern coast of Sicily during the first half of the nineteenth century. It pays particular attention to the interaction between trade flows and urban and productive systems in this area. The study is based on the records of the maritime police of Catania during the period 1819-1851. By assuming the port of Catania as an observation point in order to analyse the different types of transit coastal shipping and trades, we suggest a typology of the urban, territorial and productive hierarchies of a variable area whose sub-regional influence reached more widely. Among other matters, this paper addresses the entrepreneurial abilities of the owner of the local merchant fleet and the first impact of modernization on traditional forms of mobility.