Today we decided to visit the peninsular of Ston, an hour's drive north of Dubrovnik. The peninsular juts out 65 km from the mainland but is only a maximum of 4 miles wide. Known in Roman times as Stagnum because of its shallow waters, it has been an important area for salt production for many years. It became part of the Dubrovnik Republic in 1333 and in the same year, the 5.5 km walls were completed. They claim that, at that time they were the second largest defensive walls in the world after the Great Wall of China. However, I can only assume that this means walls that were still intact given that the Romans built much larger ones e.g. Hadrian's Wall in England and the Limes in Germany. Anyway, it was a very impressive wall and we walked one small part of it above the town of Veliki Ston.
The reason for the defensive walls was the salt production of the area. Dubrovnik made a huge amount of money from Ston's salt and was not about to let anyone else take it over. The salt pans were still intact and looked quite impressive from the walls behind the town.
Ston has two other claims to fame – its extensive production of oysters and mussels and its wine. We saw much evidence of the seafood production in the waters between the mainland and the peninsular and all the restaurants in Dubrovnik and the surrounding area advertise that they have Ston oysters. It was too early for lunch, so we headed up the peninsular in the sure knowledge that there would be plenty of other restaurants.
We passed a huge number on vineyards on the way and it was obvious that a number of different varieties of grapes were being grown. There were also many wineries to taste and buy the wine but, given the strict drink driving laws, we resisted the temptation. Half way up the island, near Janjina, there were lovely views across to the mainland and more evidence of seafood production. We were now looking for a restaurant, preferably on the side of the sea, in the sun and with local seafood. Needless to say, we couldn't find a single one that was open. Still, I was confident that when we reached Orebic, the port for ferries to the island of Korcula, there would be plenty to choose from. After all, there are always restaurants at ports. Of course, I was wrong and it was now gone 14:00 and we were hungry. After walking around the town for some time, we went into a café and had a coffee, expecting to have to get something from the local supermarket. I asked the owner of the café whether there was a open restaurant nearby and this prompted a great discussion between the locals, the result of which was that there was one (only one!) about 300m down the road. Nick, being a hero, set off to find it and returning some time later confirmed that it was open but much further away. After finishing the coffee, we set off for the restaurant that was at least 500m away but it was very good (but no mussels) and excellent value. We were amazed that a place of that size only had one restaurant open at that time of the year.
Photos: Looking over the town and walls to Ston's salt pans; The walls at Veliki Ston; Fishing view at Mali Ston.
No comments:
Post a Comment