About 20 minutes north of our marina in Slano are the cities Ston and Mali Ston. This area is famous for three things - walls, salt and oysters. The Walls of Ston are a series of defensive stone walls about 7 kilometers long, that surrounded and protected the city of Ston, in Dalmatia, since construction started in 1358. Today, it is one of the longest preserved fortification systems in the world. The Walls of Ston were known as the "European wall of China". The wall, link Ston to Mali Ston.
Salt production has been an economic mainstay since the Middle Ages and the saltworks of Ston are among the oldest and best-preserved in Europe. The salt is still harvested by hand and then loaded onto wagons for distribution.
Our favorite part of this area is their famous oysters.The reason why these oysters – known as Ostrea edulis, or European flat oysters – are so good has to do with the unique and distinctive nutrient blend that naturally occurs in Mali Ston Bay. While the bay is already loaded with salt, the nearby Neretva River discharges fresh, mineral-heavy water from the karst springs that flow into it. Add in a sea floor that is packed with phytoplankton, and you have a natural recipe for some of the planet’s best raw oysters.
After hiking the walls from Mali Ston over to Ston we were rewarded with beer and delicious oysters from one of the many cafes and restaurants serving them.
