Chance travelers or local or foreign tourists who find themselves in Ston will surely be attracted by the long walls surrounding the city, the "Chinese wall of the Mediterranean", and the shellfish clusters in the Mali Ston Bay.

And, if they continue further along the Pelješac Peninsula, they will pass by salt fields without even realizing that they are in the vicinity of the oldest saltpan in Europe, a four-millennia-old saltpan.

The amazing longevity of the Ston Saltpan is unquestionable. It has been proven by numerous scientific authorities, both Croatian and international historians. Academic Igor Fisković noted: "The salt fields are located between the fertile valley of the Ston Field and the deep Ston Bay and demonstrate an exceptionally great continuity of existence. Namely, the archaeological findings from the surrounding area have confirmed the origins of life in the Neolith period, and it is assumed that the production of salt in the location where it takes place today started in the Antique period."

The Ston Saltpan experienced and survived the Greek, Illyrian and Roman rules, and it belonged to the medieval Zachlumia. It was also under the Venetian rule and for centuries it belonged to the Dubrovnik Republic, i.e. from 1333 to 1808.

It was occupied by Austria, then France, then Austria again. It belonged to Yugoslavia under King Aleksandar Karađorđević and under Josip Broz, and it finally settled in the independent and sovereign Republic of Croatia, in the private ownership of the famous developer of tourist facilities, Svetan Sveto Pejić.

As the time moved on and the centuries passed, the Ston salt never lost its worth. Its worth also stayed preserved after the 7th century, when the first Slavs (Croats), came to the area, and especially after the 14th century, when the area became part of the small but long-lived and famous Dubrovnik Republic.

References to Salt in the Dubrovnik Statute

The provisions of the Dubrovnik Statute from 1272 concerning salt confirm the importance of salt, a gift of heaven, sea and human effort, not only to be used for nutritional purposes on the territory of the old Dubrovnik Republic, but also to be exported to the inland areas that based their livelihoods and existence on stock-breeding.

The Eighth Book of the Statute, Article XLVII, included a provision referring to salt. Among other things, the provision stated: "For the purpose of managing the state supply of salt in order to be able to better manage the income from that salt for the benefit of the Dubrovnik Republic, it has been determined that all salt is to be entered in the state book by quantity, both upon receiving and handing out of the same. It has also been determined that the keys to the salt storage must be kept in a box of the municipal chamberlain. Each time when the salt is received and handed out, two customs officers shall take the keys from the chamberlain and both shall be present at the weighing, until the salt is received or handed out."

Article VIII of the Second Book of the Statute referred to the oath of those who supplied salt to the Dubrovnik Republic. Among other things, it stated: " I swear on the Holy Gospels that I shall honestly, without pretence, be committed to my work relating to the supply of salt for the benefit of the Dubrovnik Republic, that I shall investigate whether there is someone who has breached this salt provision, and that, if I find such a person, I shall report them to the Prince (Rector) as soon as possible."

61 years had passed from the adoption of the mentioned Statute when in 1333, by the Charter of Serbian Tsar Dušan of January 23rd and the Charter of Bosnian Governor Stjepan II Kotrumanić of February 15 of the same year, Ston and the Ston Saltpan finally fell under the Dubrovnik Republic. 

Strategic Importance of Salt

Aware of the importance of the newly acquired territory as the economic center for the production of salt, the people of Dubrovnik first raised powerful walls around Ston in the length of 5.5 km (Dubrovnik Walls are only 1,940 m long). Later they built Mali Ston as a port from which salt was transported to various parts of the world. Thanks to this, Ston became the second city of the Dubrovnik Republic and the main salt harvest location that played a special role in the lives of the people of Dubrovnik for a long time, which is not surprising knowing that the Ston Saltpan produced as many as 96,642 measures of salt in 1611 which amounted to 6,040 tons of salt since one measure (modium) equaled 62.5 kilos.

It is obvious that the people of Dubrovnik believed that the Ston Saltpan could produce even more salt, so they often invited foreign masters to Ston to advise them as to how to improve the production system that has only slightly changed from the ancient times until today.

The working season in the salt fields lasted from April to October, and the production lasted from May to the end of September. The commencement of works was determined first by the Small Council (Dubrovnik Government), whereas it was later determined by the Senate (Council of the Implored). As salt was a monopoly even at that time, and for the purpose of ensuring that all grains of salt be collected during harvest, the Government of Dubrovnik even introduced mobilization, a working obligation that equally affected the citizens of the Ston area and the Dubrovnik coastal region. This was an obligation according to a schedule determined by the Dubrovnik Republic authorities, and the ones who tried to avoid it faced severe penalties. Mobilization also included freight stock, mules, donkeys and horses for the transport of salt from salt basins to storages and from storages to ports where it was loaded onto ships. If needed, and it was, convicts also participated in the harvest. Let us also mention that the Dubrovnik authorities had a habit of handing out salt for free to the poorest citizens.

Just how precious the Ston Saltpan was to the Dubrovnik Republic is evident from the fact that a Salt Office (Officium salis) was established in Ston. It consisted of four members of the Dubrovnik nobility: a notary, two state officials and a master, a person who was in charge of the entire salt production.

Famous People of Dubrovnik and the Ston Saltpan

On the territory of 430 thousand square meters, the area occupied by the salt basins, twelve were used for the crystallization of salt at the time of the Dubrovnik Republic, whereas only nine are used today. The basins used for the crystallization of salt were named after the saints: St. Blaise, St. Francis, St. Nicolas, St. Balthasar, St. Joseph, St. John, St. Mary, St. Lazarus, St. Clementinus and St. Peter and Paul. Only one basin did not bear the name of a saint. It was named the Mundo, a Spanish word for the world.

The Dubrovnik Republic sent young nobility to Ston to learn the trade in this second important city of the Republic in order to be able to carry out functions in the city of Dubrovnik later. Their special task was to learn how to manage the production of salt.

The great poet, merchant and diplomat Jakov Bunić (1469-1534), who was elected Prince of the Dubrovnik Republic five times, was also a Prince of Ston. Needless to say, the author of the first Croatian published epic poem called "De raptu Cerberi" (Rome 1490- 1500) was also in charge of the production of salt.

In 1945, Ilija Crijević (1463 -1520), our most famous humanist, Rome lover, disciple of Pomponius Laetus, Plautus' commentator and writer of Latin verses worked in Ston as castellan. Among other obligations, he also took care of the saltpan.

The famous Dubrovnik mathematician and physician Marin Getaldić (1568-1626) was a Ston Captain and he too, among other things, took care of the salt production.

It was not only the nobility of Dubrovnik that worked in Ston and took care of the salt production; there was also one ordinary citizen. None else but the famous comedy writer Marin Držić (1508-1567). The famous writer worked as a notary in the Ston Saltpan from 1553 to 1556.

Ecological Salt - The Future of the Ston Saltpan

The Dubrovnik Republic fell and in 1808 Dubrovnik and Ston fell under the French rule. Napoleon did not care much for salt fields. The reason for this was that the English imported cheaper salt from Malta.

Soon, the Frenchmen also left and in 1813 came the Austrians. In the beginning, they planned to invest in the expansion of the Ston Saltpan, but this intent did not materialize, even though the salt from Ston was used at the Viennese court. It has been recorded that the average salt production until the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918 was between 200 and 400 wagons.

In 1925, during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the base of one of the basins used for the crystallization of salt in the Ston Saltpan was made from cast asphalt brought from Vrgorac. That was the only investment the Kingdom of Yugoslavia ever made in the Ston Saltpan.

In 1952, during Tito's Yugoslavia, when the saltpan of Ston was called the Ivan Morčin Crni Saltpan, tracks were installed. They were used by small locomotives that pulled wagons of salt to the storages. In this way, the toiling job of harvesting salt, with a shovel in the hand and the sun over the head, was made somewhat easier. The production still depended on the number of sunny days during the process of crystallization.

The question is now being raised as to the future of the Ston Saltpan that has in the past twenty years produced on average 1,500 tons of salt. In order to answer this question, one must know that the consumption of salt in Croatia ranges from 100 and 120 thousand tons per year, and that we import 90 to 100 thousand tons of salt each year. Knowing this, many will conclude that the future of the Ston Saltpan, the oldest saltpan in Europe, is not a rosy one. Its current director and owner, Svetan Sveto Pejić, views the situation in the following manner: "The future of the Ston Saltpan is in the production of ecological salt. In order to start the production of ecological salt, we must cover the crystallization basins with granite panels. This, of course, requires funding, but the result would be magnificent - absolutely healthy salt for human consumption. This should be done in order to preserve this unique locality that has born witness to the production of salt for four millennia. Not many countries in our surroundings have anything similar to be proud of."

Every person that respects historical treasures will agree with these words and believe that, with good will and material support provided by the relevant financial institutions, we could produce salt of such quality that Europe would be envious of. This is the only way to preserve the old Ston Saltpan that is, with each day, becoming an increasingly important tourist place and a destination that attracts people, especially young people from various European countries wishing to experience a traditional salt harvest.

Written by: Mato Jerinić, Author and journalist; Svetan Pejić, Director, Ston Saltpan