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UPPER MILLS
At the beginning of the Dubrovnik rule of Konavle, around 1472, there were most probably only two mills in the area of the Upper Mills, one near the source, and the other one somewhat to the south and east of Radoslav Pavlović's Palace. At the beginning of the 18th Century, a second mill was built and was named Taraš's Mill. Its remains are presently known as the "Old Mill".
One of the most famous stories about this mill relates to a terrible murder, when the miller of the Taraš's Mill killed his fellow-townsman, Vuk Milić, from Miočići. After that unfortunate event, Taraš left the Old Mill and built a new one beside the western wall of the existing fulling mill.
After the construction of the new system, the water reached a sufficient drop for the construction somewhat south of two new mills: the Dobrašin Mill, still existing, and the Margetić Mill that was abandoned in the first half of the 19th Century, giving way to a restaurant called “Konavoski dvori”, built in 1969.
Two other mills are significant for this area – the Upper and the Lower Arbanas Mills. It is assumed that the Lower Mill dates back to the beginning of the 18th Century, and is still partly owned by the Arbanas family. The Upper Mill was flooded by the River Ljuta in 1856 and has never been rebuilt. Only part of its sluices has been preserved.
The Dubrovnik authorities encouraged the construction of mills, so Ivan Kapetanić, from Lovorno, and Niko Živanović, from Ljuta, obtained a 30-year long land lease in order to build mills on it. The eastern mill belonged to the Kapetanić family, and the western to the Živanović family. The Kapetanić family later sold its mill to the Birimiša family, who is still its majority co-owner.