Farm - Monastery of San Martino in Milena
The Farm - Monastery of San Martino in Milocca, ancient name of the city of Milena, is a Benedictine abbey complex which, over the course of its history, has undergone several important architectural interventions.
It is believed that the complex is It was built at the behest of Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century. It was destroyed by the Arabs in 837 and rebuilt in 1347 by the Benedictine Angelo Senesio and dedicated to San Martino, bishop of Tours.
The complex has a rectangular plan with an internal courtyard. Inside the complex there was a stately palace and a farm with a small tower dating back to the end of the fourteenth century. The side buildings were used to house the servants, the granaries and the stables. In the rear part there was a garden with a water well and a rambling shop. In the eighteenth century, important alterations were made to the structure which was in poor condition and, on this occasion, a mill, the millstone and the oil mill were added.
The complex became a fortress farm: the various rooms were arranged around a large court. Along the main facade there was the guesthouse, a meeting place between the monks and the community, and a small church. From the large courtyard there was access to another smaller courtyard where there were rooms used, probably, as stables and later as homes for the labourers.
Today the complex is in a state of ruin.
