Marzamemi is a seaside hamlet which is about 3 km from Pachino and 27 km from Avola.

The origin of the name Marzamemi is controversial: according to some it derives from the Arabic words "Marza" which means "port" and "Memi" which means "small", while according to others the toponym derives from the Arabic "Marsà in the hammam”, i.e. «Baia delle Tortore».

The village is almost entirely bathed by the Ionian Sea and the level is lower than the sea. Fishing is the main activity to which the inhabitants of the hamlet are dedicated: in fact, it was already well known since ancient times for the tuna fishery, which was the second in Sicily, after that of Favignana (near Trapani).

The village was born around the landing place, which later became a fishing port, and then developed thanks to this latter activity. There Marzamemi tuna fishery, was planted by the Arabs during their domination in Sicily and in 1630 it was sold by the owners to the Prince of Villadorata, who in 1752 had the sandstone palace and the Tonnara church built.

In 1912, a factory was built to process salted tuna and later tuna in oil. Around the square and the Prince's palace there are fishermen's houses. They date back to the 1600s and give the landscape a uniform appearance.