Things to do in Ston Croatia: Complete visitor guide covering historic walls, Franciscan monastery, Salt Museum, seafood dining and authentic travel experiences in Dalmatia
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From Dubrovnik to Ston is an hour’s drive by car (54 km). It should be clarified right away that in this area there are two settlements that have the word “Ston” in their name – these are Mali Ston and Veliki Ston.
Both towns are located on the isthmus connecting the Pelješac peninsula with the main, mainland part of Croatia and lie off the main D8 highway. If you’re driving, you need to turn off it toward the Adriatic Sea.
Tours from Dubrovnik by local guides, with a visit to the town of Ston, you can find at this link.
What's worth seeing in Ston?
Veliki Ston (which is most often simply called Ston) is more like a town than Mali.
The town layout was initially conceived as a grid of regular squares. There were only 15 blocks here, with 10 houses in each.
Now there are even fewer than 150 houses in the town, as many houses were destroyed during the earthquake. Since then, they haven’t been restored.
One of the central streets of Veliki Ston town (or simply Ston)
The town, even today, represents a network of straight narrow streets framed by simple house walls. Most buildings are built without special architectural excesses.
Some streets are located on a slope, so sometimes you have to climb stairs. There are also abandoned buildings here that induce real melancholy.
Most buildings are built without special architectural excesses
"Big Castle" in Ston
The name of Fort Veliki Kaštio, from Croatian, translates as “big castle.” Once the fort was part of a defensive complex that included the “Great Croatian Wall,” and now it stands separately.
The inner part of the castle (old, medieval), built even before the era of firearms, was constructed by residents of the Republic of Dubrovnik when they included Ston in their state (i.e., in the early 14th century).
But the outer framing was clearly created later, in the 15th-16th centuries. And it has a Venetian style.
Fort Veliki Kaštio
Veliki Kaštio served simultaneously as a dwelling house, granary, and weapons depot.
The fort was relatively recently repaired. Now this castle can be visited, but (I’ll say right away), you won’t see any magnificent medieval interiors in it.
Moreover, visits are possible exclusively with tickets that need to be bought for entrance to the Wall. The cost of such tickets is 70 kuna.
We already had tickets with which we went to the Wall in the morning, and it’s good that we were informed about this fact, so we saved them to present at the entrance to the castle.
The walls of Veliki Kaštio, as you can see, are surrounded by a moat filled with water. Everything’s serious!
Our walk through Fort Veliki Kaštio (Big Castle) and impressions of it
Having crossed the bridge thrown across the moat, we first enter the castle’s first courtyard. It was very recently restored, and it shows.
Perhaps the restorers even overdid it, so the castle somewhat resembles a “new build.” Unlike the Wall itself, some sections of which are also restored. But during the walk along the Walls, we didn’t have such a feeling.
The first courtyard of Veliki Kaštio castle
Meanwhile, we entered the second and largest courtyard of the castle. In it there’s a staircase leading to the upper part of the walls encircling the castle, along which we climbed up.
The second, largest courtyard of the castle, and the staircase leading to the upper part of the castle walls
The only museum exhibits in the castle are ancient cannons placed around the entire perimeter of the walls. Well, and cannonballs that are laid in iron boxes next to the artillery pieces.
Against the background of the fort’s walls and the beautiful nature surrounding it, these guns look very impressive.
Ancient cannons and boxes with cannonballs around the perimeter of Veliki Kaštio castle walls
And in conclusion, I want to mention the rather originally designed entrances to the toilets located on the castle’s first floor. In the photo below, the men’s toilet with the inscription “Lords” and the ladies’ one, on which, in the same Gothic script, “Ladies” is written.
I can’t help but note the originally designed toilet entrances on the castle territory
Franciscan monastery
Located on the outskirts of Ston, in a rather neglected area where some buildings have long broken windows.
The construction of this Franciscan monastery was begun in the early 14th century (along with the town’s construction), and was completed only in the 15th century with the construction of a tall bell tower.
For this reason, the monastery church has Gothic features, and the bell tower has Renaissance features.
Franciscan monastery in Ston
It’s worth noting here that in Croatia, at least in those places where we’ve been, monasteries are exclusively Franciscan or Dominican.
Moreover, they’re often located in pairs: if there’s one, then somewhere nearby you can find a monastery belonging to the competing order.
But in Ston, the Franciscans occupied a monopoly position.
The monastery’s main church is consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas. The rather austere, at first glance, appearance of the church includes quite elegant high reliefs that undoubtedly adorned the church facade.
St. Nicholas Church on the territory of the Franciscan monastery
Below are photographs of high reliefs of the Virgin Mary with angels holding a crown over her head, and an image of St. Nicholas.
Moreover, if you pay attention, under the high relief of St. Nicholas you can see a walled-up passage. Apparently, earlier, there was an entrance door here.
High reliefs of the Virgin Mary with angels and St. Nicholas on the facade of the monastery’s main church
Unfortunately, we couldn’t get into the church, it was closed, without any indication of its opening hours. The monastery, as I heard, is still active.
Salt Museum in Ston
Ston’s fortification system protected the peninsula from the land side, and most importantly – defended the solana, a salt extraction site that functions to this day (though now as a museum).
Salt production was key and town-forming for Ston. In times when there were no refrigerators yet, salt was a strategically important product for preserving meat and fish.
Owning such a serious source of income was simply vital for the Republic of Dubrovnik. To maintain de facto independence, it had to constantly pay tribute to its formidable neighbors – first to Byzantium, then to the Serbs and Bosnians, and then to the Turks.
Income from local salt, in some years, reached two-thirds of the gross income of the entire Republic. This continued until the early 19th century, the time of the end of the Dubrovnik Republic.
After the Napoleonic Wars, these lands went to the Austrians, who dismantled part of the walls that had lost their military significance.
On the solana territory there’s a museum dedicated to salt production in these parts. Tickets to it are quite inexpensive: independent viewing will cost 2 euros, and accompanied by a guide – 3 euros.
Interestingly, even in our times, salt is extracted here by the same methods as in the Middle Ages.
Entrance to Ston salt field-basins, where since time immemorial the purest sea salt has been collected
About the main historical attraction of Ston (the Great Croatian Wall), about our walk along it and about our impressions from this walk, I described in detail in this article.
Restaurants in Ston
Despite the fact that it’s the neighboring Mali Ston that’s considered the oyster capital of Croatia, local oysters can also be tried in Veliki Ston. Here, in every, as they say, shabby cafe they offer oysters or dishes with them.
In Ston, not far from the Wall, there’s a whole quarter whose streets are occupied by tables of small seafood restaurants. Their menus are generally similar – the main emphasis is on dishes using oysters and other gifts of the sea, but there are, of course, certain differences.
Our choice fell on the small restaurant “Dardin,” about which I plan to write separately. The walls of the building that the restaurant occupies represent a real art gallery.
I’ll say right away that we ultimately decided not to try fresh oysters here. But we did eat oyster soup, and with considerable pleasure!
Small restaurant “Dardin”
And also, at “Dardin” we got pizza. It exceeded all expectations! I can boldly claim that even in Italy you can rarely try such delicious pizza.
In Ston, oysters are offered not only in restaurants. There are special oyster bars, which, in particular, sell “sets” in the form of a certain number of mollusks with a glass of local wine, also famous for its quality.
By the way, in the matter of eating oysters, the clients of local restaurants have furry “helpers.” In the photo below you can see with what visible pleasure they lick the shells of kamenice (what oysters are called in these parts).
And for those who want to combine seafood tasting in Ston with tasting local wine – at this link already collected similar tours from Dubrovnik.
Special oyster bars and cats that wait nearby and, given the chance, help visitors in eating oysters
Our impressions of Ston
Overall, the town made a very pleasant impression. First of all, with the stunning fortress wall, along which it’s interesting both to walk and to admire it from the side.
We also remember the Veliki Kaštio castle, about which you can say exactly the same words. And someone will really enjoy tasting the local freshest oysters grown nearby.
If there had been time, we would undoubtedly have visited the salt fields, where to this day, using old technology, sea salt is extracted.
In short, despite the not so large size of Ston and the small number of local residents (only about 530 people), in this small Croatian town there’s something to see.
In one word, I recommend visiting these places (both Veliki and Mali Ston), definitely walking along the wall.
Especially since there are (for now, at least) very few tourists in these parts. Especially compared to the “pearl of the Adriatic,” Dubrovnik, located just over fifty kilometers south of Ston.