Milena

Milena is a small inland borgo in central Sicily, set on a panoramic hill 423 metres above sea level in the western part of its province, east of the Platani River. Its character is deeply rural, defined not by a compact town plan alone but by an unusual network of hamlets known as the *robbe*, which earned it the name *Paese delle Robbe*.

The village was formerly called Milocca, a name described as Arabic in origin from *mulok*, meaning “cherry tree”. In 1363 the fief passed to the Benedictines of San Martino delle Scale, whose presence helped shape the area’s agricultural life; centuries later, after the lands were sold to local inhabitants, guards and peasants built the first *robbe*. Milena became an autonomous municipality in 1923 and received its current name in 1933 in honour of Queen Milena of Montenegro.

What makes Milena distinctive is this blend of ancient settlement, peasant memory and a rare rural layout: a hill village whose identity is spread across a main centre and thirteen named *robbe*, rather than contained in a single historic core.