Ston
29/06/2011 20:33:32
Hello from Slano!!
We are in a small bay situated at the beginning of the Calamotta / Kolocep channel when you enter it from the north. Yesterday we passed the whole day in Ston / Stagno.
We had a lot of curiosity to discover Trsteno, thinking already that we has some hidden surprise to discover. Instead Ston did not call for our attention. ¿Why the Archduke devotes a whole book with the intention to promote the construction of a navigation channel?
After the day we spent over there we must say that we liked it a lot. The landscapes, the history and the environment are engaging.
We arrive to the zone through the Ston /Stagno channel, coming from the south. We already observe that both sides are full of vegetation.
We arrive first at Brocce, a little village that marks the end of the navigable zone for large boats.
We do not observe large differences when we compare Brocce with the images that the Archduke caught by 1906.
Just after there is a channel, of about 3 km., and w ego by with our dinghy. The vegetation to both sides is impressive. We can observe also a few houses besides the shore of this channel.
When we approach Large Ston it is easy to see first the large salt works at the left hand side of the channel and, then, the stone walls that rise on th hill just behind Large Ston.
We find a beautiful abandoned church. Also he pass by the town hall.
And where the city starts to climb towards the hill, we discover the little church that was also mentioned by the Archduke.
Afterwards it is the momento to start the little excursion that will take us to Small Ston on the stone walls that unite both villages. The view from the heights are astonishing.
Fron there we can perfectly observe the salt works. The salt works were constructed thousands of years ago, and those are the salt works with an oldest historical registry in Europe. The fortification probably served to protect them throughout a very long period.
Front he top it is easy to observe the piece of the valley that was supposed to follow the navigation channel. It is not a very large piece, just a few km.
To the other side we can see the Peljesac channel and Small Ston. The views from the top, to all sides, are beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nud3N8FnLX4
Before finishing the excursion we pass through a fortified area, like a castle, that marks the arrival to Small Ston-
Once down, at Small Ston, we find a little church that has some beautiful bells in a sightseeing place.
When we leave the village we see how the whole stone walls descend, integrate with the village, and arrive to the channel.
Best wishes!!
