Peljesac Peninsula: picturesque coastline of Croatia

Pelješac (Italian: Sabbioncello) is a peninsula in southern Dalmatia in Croatia. The peninsula is part of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County and is the second largest peninsula in Croatia. From the isthmus that begins at Ston, to the top of Cape Lovišta, it is 65 km or 40 mi long.
The Bay of Mali Ston separates the peninsula from the Klek peninsula of Bosnia and Herzegovina and from the Croatian "mainland". The Strait of Pelješac is located at its far western end, and it divides the peninsula from the island of Korčula. In the western part of the peninsula is the highest summit of Pelješac, the Zmijino brdo mountain (lit. Snake's Hill) with the peak Sveti Ilija at 961 m or 3,153 ft
The Walls of Ston are large fortifications built by the Republic of Ragusa. They are the second longest walls in Europe. Ston also has one of the oldest salt planes in this part of the world.
In the 6th century Pelješac came under Byzantine rule. Upon the arrival of the Slavs, the area from the Neretva river to Rijeka Dubrovačka, and from the northern Herzegovina mountains to the Adriatic coast, new socio-political entities had been established, namely Neretva, Primorje, Travunija and Zahumlje, and ruled by newly risen local nobility. Ston with Rat (then the name for the Pelješac peninsula) and Mljet were under the rule of one of these principalities, namely under the knyazs of Zahumlje. These local rulers acknowledged the supremacy of Byzantium. After Mihajlo Višević, who acknowledged the authority of Bulgarian emperor Simeon, Zahumlje was ruled over by different dynasties. Around 950, it was briefly ruled by Duke Časlav. At the end of the 10th century, Samuilo was the Lord of Zahumlje, and the dukedom belonged to king Ivan Vladimir. In 1168, the Dukedom and Zahumlje were conquered by Raški major prefect Stevan Nemanja. Thirty years later, Zahumlje was invaded by Andrija, the Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia. In 1254, Béla IV of Hungary invaded Bosnia and Zahumlje. From 1304, Zahumlje was ruled by Mladen Šubić, then again for a short period by local župan, and from 1325 by Stjepan II Kotromanić. Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), acquired it from Bosnian rulers in several purchases over several decades, first in 1333 and then on 15 January 1399. King Tvrtko II confirmed purchase of the Bosansko Primorje to Dubrovnik on 24 June 1405.

The old Ston was located on the slopes of the hills of Gorica and St. Michael, south of the Ston field. There were several early Christian churches there, the largest of which was St. Stephen's Church. The bishopric church of Mary Magdalene stood until it was bombed by the Allies in 1944. The only church that still remains is the church of St. Michael, built in the middle of the late antique castrum.