Ston History

For four thousand years, the town of Ston has been producing salt, formerly a high-priced product that was paid for in gold. This "salt" place has always been of interest to various countries, and for many centuries there have been "salt wars" over it.

Even before the time when Ston and Ston Solans were handed over to Dubrovnik. The issue of this "product" in Dubrovnik was conducted with no less strict accounting than money in a bank today. And in 1333, when Ston and the salt fields were taken over by Dubrovnik, even a special "salt department" was created.

At the same time, the construction of defenses to protect the "salt lands" from the Venetians and Turkish troops began - walls were built, which connected the Mali and Veliki Ston. The total length of the walls was 5.5 km (2.5 times greater than the wall surrounding Dubrovnik). The walls had 40 towers and 7 fortifications. Warriors were placed on the walls, which finally stopped the "salt wars".

For 5 centuries (until the advent of Napoleon in 1808) Ston was the second main town after Dubrovnik, and since the 19th century it has experienced several changes of government, loss of interest in the salt-mining enterprise and little mechanization in the salt extraction process. Today, the salt pools operate as they did four thousand years ago.

Today, the Stone Wall serves a much more peaceful purpose - tourism. Tourists walk along the wall not without difficulty, but with pleasure, and in one of the towers there is a mini-cinema, where you can watch a short film about the history of the construction of the Ston Wall. In the tower is cool, even on the hottest day.