The Museum of the Mafia opened in Salemi on the occasion of celebrations for the Unification of Italy 150th anniversary. Installations, works, collections of testimonies and documentation tell the last 150 years of Mafia’s history.

The museum is characterized by ten polling booths in which  the main topic, “Cosa Nostra”,  is linked to various elements: from massacres to the relationship with religion, from intimidation to the management of energy and water, from prison to the role of the family, politics, information and health.

Then we pass to the room «Palermo felicissima», inside which is reproduced a real building abuse, which culminates in the mummy of a dead man killed by the mafia set in a concrete pylon (by the artist Cesare Inzerillo). On the sides of the tunnel there are photographs of Palermo ruined by the  wild way of building, and the images of when it could have established itself as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

In the following rooms a labyrinth leads to the chronological history of “Cosa Nostra” through the reproduction of  hundreds newspaper frontpages reporting the most significant events of the last 150 years.

Then the wind turbine blades Hall: a grassy surface instead of a floor, which seems to continue naturally through the projections of a giant screen which evokes the rustle of the wind turbines against  the wind.

On the walls some modern iconographies highlight the landscapes devastated by wind turbines,  a job in which the mafia has recycled itself and continues undisturbed and silent in its business.

The other three rooms are dedicated to temporary exhibitions. A large mural tells of men, women and children who are victims of the Mafia or who continue to carry out with dignity and strength their struggle against the Mafia. At the end of the tour, in another room of the Museum, you can watch documentaries and interviews of the protagonists of the history of Cosa Nostra.

In 2016, by the will of the ​​city council under the Mayor Venuti, another name was added to the : “Museum of theMafia and Officina della Legalità”.