Ston and Mali Ston

About 20km beyond Dubrava, the twin settlements of Ston and Mali Ston straddle the neck of land which joins Pe1ješac to the mainland. STON (sometimes called Veliki – or" Great" – Ston to differentiate it from Mali Ston), an important salt-producing town, was swallowed up by Dubrovnik in 1333, becoming the most important fortress along the republic's northern frontier. Piled up above the saltpans of its long sea inlet, the town is framed by its dramatic and unusually shaped fourteenth-century walls, whose V-shaped apex is on the hillside high above the town's narrow streets.You can walk along the stretch of walls immediately above the town, and potter around the alleyways below, among a mix of Renaissance- and Gothic-style houses laid out on a gridiron plan. If central Ston looks a bit ramshackle it's probably the result of the 1996 earthquake, when almost all of the town's buildings suffered structural damage – many remain uninhabited to this day. Just west of Ston, the pre-Romanesque St Michael's Church (Crkva svetog Mihovila) squats atop a conical hill overlooking the saltpans and has twelfth-century frescoes inside; however, it's only infrequently open, so ask at the tourist office before making your way up.
Fifteen minutes' walk northeast of Ston, MALI STON began life as the outermost bastion of Ston's defensive system, and the line of fortifications linking Ston with Mali Ston can still be seen trailing majestically across the adjacent hillsides. It's now a sleepy little village of old stone houses pressed within its walls, looking out onto Mali Ston bay, where the village's oyster beds are marked out by wooden poles, hung with ropes on which the oysters are encouraged to grow prior to harvesting in May and June. The village's traditional popularity as a seafood centre has been augmented by its growing reputation as a venue for romantic weekend breaks – perhaps something to do with the oysters' aphrodisiac effect. Following the narrow lanes up from the harbour, you'll soon reach a crescent-shaped fortress which marked the north-easternmost extent of Ston's sophisticated network of defences. Nowadays it's an uninhabited shell, though steps lead up to a parapet from where there are good views.
There's no beach in Mali Ston, but the jetties and rocks around the harbour are pleasant places to sunbathe and the water is clean enough to swim in.

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