Scillato is a very small village at the foot of the highest peaks of the Madonie, in a valley full of springs, on an ancient road connecting the coast to the center of Sicily. Some historians have hypothesized that the first settlement was founded by a colony of Greeks escaping the destruction of Troy.
In the Middle Ages, Scillato housed countless water mills and wool mills and these activities were at the heart of the economy for the ancient County of Sclafani, to which Scillato belonged.
Today’s center is clustered around the central square of Aldo Moro and the church of Santa Maria Santissima della Catena, patron saint of customs officers, which is suggestive of Scillato’s position as a doorway to Sicily’s inland territories. The current church was founded in the 17th century and houses a small statue of the Virgin attributed to the works of Gagini sculptors.
The geography of Scillato, protected by the mountains and cocooned by the river, makes the area particularly suitable for the cultivation of olive groves and orchards. The town is known for two particular fruits: the blood orange and the Scillato apricot, a Slow Food Presidium.