The Walls of Mali Ston and Ston
Thirty-three miles from Dubrovnik is the town of Ston. We had stopped in Mali Ston for oysters. One of the best meals I had in Croatia and absolutely worth the trip.
Just a few miles away is the town of Ston.
Known as the European Wall of China, the walls were defensive and originally ran 4.3 miles. Construction began in 1358, and today it is one of the longest preserved fortifications in the world. The wall, today is 3.5 miles long, and links Ston to Mali Ston.
It is in the shape of an irregular pentangle. 20 of the original towers have survived, and 5 fortresses.
Neretva River Delta
The Neretva Delta is a river that flows through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia and empties into the Adriatic Sea. It is a sight to see. It is also listed under the Ramsar Convention as internationally important.
Pelješac Bridge
Because we detoured into Bosnia Herzegovina, I was not able to drive over this bridge. Here is a better picture of the bridge from Wikipedia.
The bridge has an interesting history and a slight controversy. It has much to do with Schengen, the strictness of which we encountered when crossing into and out of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Croatian mainland is intersected by a small strip of the coast around the town of Neum, which is part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, forming Bosnia and Herzegovina’s only outlet to the Adriatic Sea. All traffic passing through the Neum corridor has to undergo border checks on goods and persons. Therefore, people traveling from the Dubrovnik area to mainland Croatia had to pass through two border checks. When Croatia joined the Schengen Area in 2023, checks would become considerably more stringent and time-consuming.
The construction of the bridge was also opposed by various political figures in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who said that it would restrict Bosnia and Herzegovina’s access to international waters. Thus the controversy, as you can see, the bridge was built anyway.