Attractionc of Ston

In 1358. Dubrovnik acquired Pelješac and erected a monumental defensive system, the largest fortification and urban achievements in Europe at the time.Dubrovnik invested huge sums of money and employed the following buiders: :Mihač and district Bunić among the first local designers: the Italians Onofrio from Naplesi and Bernandin from Parma, the French Olivier and the Florentinei Michelozzo, and stone masters Juraj Dalmatinac and Paskoje Miličević from Dalmatia.It was completed at the end of 15th century.During the first thirty years, the defensive walls, the longest in Europe, were built from one side of the peninsula to the other.Then two small fortified towns were erected according to plan, Ston on the north and Mali Ston on the south, for the purpose of housing people for guarding the borders and working in the saltpans.Pelješac is devided from the mainland, above the ste ep western slopes, by the Big Wall. These walls go across the hill in a double row with a total lenght of 5.5 kms and are protected by some 40 towers and 5 forts, the strongest being Bartolomija at the highest point, named for the saint-protector of arms. Diverging walls encompass Mali Ston on the north with the tower of Koruna, consisting of four smaller towers resembling a crown, from which it gets its name('kruna'=crown).Ston, larger and historically more important, has the same defence system, and the geometrical arrangement of its saltpans reflects a similar pattern in the town and fields.The town is enclosed with 1 km long wall in the shape of a pentagon with the semicircular tower of Podzvizd on top. Previously this wall also had an outer wall with ditches, which followed the palisades to the saltpans along the bay.It ended immediately in front of the town where the port was protected by a large tower on Veliki Kaštio(1357), a crucial point of this fortification.

Church of St Michael
The artefacts Of Ston culminate in the complex of the medieval ruler's court on top of Gradac hill, around the small church of St Michael. The site abounds in Illyrian hill-forts, ancient walls around an old castrum, and a pre-Romanesque church. The walls around this complex have shallow exterior niches in an arch design.

Church of Our Lady of the Groves
The church of Our Lady of the Groves is the most beautiful and the seat of medieval Diocese.Its Romanesque-Gothic style with sharp ceiling arches is combined with a massive Baroque bell tower which has a loggia under the small cupola at the top. Frescoes in the Baroque style are found in this church.A monastery has contributed to this monumental whole, being first converted for the storage of salt and then as a winery.

Veliki Kaštio
Large tower Veliki Kaštio(1357), a crucial point of fortification project. Next to Veliki Kaštio the buildings were arranged in an orderly manner.

Community office building
The three-storey Gothic community office building from 15th century is centrally located south of the residential area.

The Rector's Mansion
The main building of civil authority, was detached and located in a spacious strech with the parish church of St Blaise. Both these building were damaged by earthquakes. The mansion was renovated in a rather simple manner while the church was built anew in 1870. in neo-Gothic style, though again damaged by an earthquake in 1996.

In order te know Pelješac as an unique and historical entity, it is best to start with Stonska Prevlaka (Ston Isthmus), the single connection with the mainland. Recessed among hills, it extends 1.5 km between the southern and northern coasts. Archaeological finds here show that Mediterranean and Balkan cultural groups were both present, and in prehistory an exchange of goods took place by land and sea. This area has attracted streams of men and merchants from the mountainous interior and the open Adriatic Sea. The Tabula Peutingeriana, the first geographical map of the Adriatic from ancient Rome, shows a fort at this locations with the name of Turris Stagni. Approaching from land, Roman walls can be seen near Zamaslina. Part of an Illyrian defensive strategy was the hill-fort at Humac, wich controlled all of Malostonski Zaljev (Mali Ston bay). It was the guardfort of this small area, a desired location since ancient times due to itssheltered position and natural features of this basin that include exceptional maritime and cultural qualities (now a protected preserve).

Where sea shoals meet the sun, in the bays with natural broad shallow shelves, saltworks emerge. They are the mines of the treasure collected under the blazing sun, and it is only through hard work that this treasure becomes available and harvestable at one time during the year, making it even more valuable and even more appreciated. Salt. White gold! In the Middle Ages it was not only a coveted means of payment, but also a cause for wars and for establishing important trade routes. Salt. The food indispensable for humans and animals to live. The produce without which the history of human aspiration to beauty and better looks is unthinkable. Salt. Gold from the sea. The lands to which nature bestowed position by the sea were also bestowed a fortune at the reach of the hand. Thus, in the economic life of the Ragusan Republic, too, the production, transport and trade in salt occupied an extremely important position. The Republic owed a fair share of its prosperity to the production of and trade in this important foodstuff. The saltworks of Ston were a permanent concern of the Republic and its authorities until the dismantling of the Republic in 1808. Such saltworks are, generally, valuable monuments of the economic activity of the people in the past, and being exploited still, they witness the superb continuity of human work under the best of environmental conditions. Time that in eternity outlives anything material has with its inescapable teeth dented these worthy monuments of man’s painful yet precious labour. If we add earthquakes and war destruction to the inevitable effects of the passage of time, we are left with the result yearning for reconstruction and general improvement. The project for the reconstruction of the saltworks of Ston is as big and demanding as any project with which humans dare challenge the passage of time and the magnificent force of nature. However, if we give each other a hand and put our heads together, any goal is achievable and any project is realisable.