Oysters in Croatia – where to go for a gourmet. Are Croatian oysters the best? This is what they think in Maly Ston. Oysters from the Lim Canal

The oyster capital of Europe, salt marshes that have been in operation since the Middle Ages and a multi-kilometer wall climbing high into the mountains - all this is about the small town of Ston, located on the Peljesac peninsula in Croatia.

Tanya writes the reports here, and I just supplement the text with inserts, which are highlighted in green italics.

Moan

From the western part of Croatia you can get to the city of Ston in two ways - by regular road through Bosnia and Herzegovina or by ferry. In order to diversify the trip and not put two extra stamps on our passports, we chose the second route.

Ferries run between Ploče and Trpanj only a few times a day. It seemed too late for us to leave at 10:15, so we decided to arrive at the ferry, which departed at 7:30. Since we still had to get to Ploce, we had to get up at five o’clock in the morning, and already at that time we felt how hot the sun was: outside, despite the early hour, it was 24 degrees.

Ferry tickets can be purchased online, or directly at the pier at the ticket office. We chose the latter option. It should be clarified that you only get one ticket, and it is valid for any Ploce-Trpanj ferry on that day, that is, the ticket is not tied to a specific time. That's why we left so early to get in line for the ferry leaving at 7:30. We don't know if the schedule changes from year to year, so we recommend checking it on the Jadrolinija ferry company website before your trip.

The cash desk is located in a house across the street from the pier, approximately opposite the middle of the storage area. Finding the ticket office is easy: this is the only establishment where there will be a queue of several people.

Another argument in favor of purchasing tickets on the spot were doubts about whether Serezha needed a separate ticket as a driver. For example, on ferries we only paid for the car and passengers, but not for the driver, since it is believed that a car cannot travel without a driver. It turned out that in Croatia the driver still needs a separate ticket - it costs about 4.5 euros. A ticket for a car will cost 20 euros. And at the ticket office they told us that the ferry takes an hour and a half, and not one, as it was written on the Internet. But in fact it turned out that the Internet was right, and we were already on shore at 8:25.

After loading, there was room on the ship for another 10-15 cars. Here they are not placed as densely as on large ferries that cross, for example, the Baltic Sea. Having parked their cars, people came out onto the deck - everyone except the truck drivers, who remained sleeping next to their cargo.

On the other side, a grape boom awaited us: every now and then we drove past vineyards, wineries and wine shops. We never stopped for a tasting, but we kept wondering - I wonder if the wine here is as sour and dry as sold in Croatian stores?

In general, the landscapes accompanying our journey reminded us very much of Italy, as it is shown in films like “Under the Tuscan Sun.” And everywhere we came across warning signs “wild boars” with a corresponding picture. I've never seen anything like this.

By half past nine we reached Ston and were faced with the same problem in all parking lots: parking meters only accept coins and nothing else! “What century are we living in?” - we thought and went to the nearest stores with a request to exchange our bills for coins. Apparently, we were not the first, because everyone refused us. Luckily for us, there was a bank across the road, where, in addition to exchanging money, we withdrew another 1,100 kuna (about 150 euros) in cash, since when planning the trip we assumed that in Croatia we would be able to pay by card more often.

But the strangeness of paying for parking did not end there. It turned out that you need to pay in advance for the entire stay of the car. How can you come to an unfamiliar city and, even having prepared, determine in advance exactly how many hours you will spend here? Fortunately, parking is cheap. In the end, we decided to pay for 4 hours and paid only 3 euros for it. Surprisingly, in the rest of Ston, cards are accepted everywhere. Even in a public toilet! And only their parking meters remain from the 20th century.

First of all, we went to see the town hall. To be honest, we didn’t find any information about it, although the building is quite nice. There, on the main square of the city, there is a Roman fountain, which was completely dry. Oddly enough, we can’t tell anything about it either - it’s not clear whether it really dates back to Roman times or is just called that.

Not far from them is the Church of St. Vlas. It was closed, but through the glass doors you can see its interior. Construction of this church began in 1342 and lasted three years. Ston became an Episcopal center and the church became a cathedral. There were a lot of parishioners, so in 1392 the church was expanded. The earthquake of 1667 destroyed the building, although overall Ston suffered little damage, and immediately after the earthquake it was decided to restore the cathedral. A repeated earthquake in 1843 destroyed this temple. The current Church of St. Vlas was built in pseudo-Byzantine style in 1875, not far from where the previous churches stood. However, she was also unlucky - the 1996 earthquake destroyed the church again. It was restored only in 2017, so we saw a completely, completely new building.

The next attraction for us was the fort. It was partially under reconstruction, but you can still enter it. The ticket costs 6.5 euros, but it also covers the wall - the most interesting structure of the city, which I will talk about later. At the beginning, by the way, when the fortress had just begun to be reconstructed, they promised cheaper tickets. I don’t know if the restoration is complete and if the ticket price has increased yet.

The fort was built approximately in the 14th-15th centuries and served not only defensive functions, but also served as a headquarters, arsenal and grain storage. Just like 700 years ago, the fortress is surrounded by a moat. However, there was no water here for a long time - the ditch was filled only in May 2017, so here we came for “fresh”.

From the walls of the fort there is a wonderful view of the local salt marshes, where we went immediately after building the fortress. We did not go inside for a tour, but simply looked at them through the fence. And, to be honest, we didn’t see anyone inside except the employees. The Ston salt mines are the oldest and largest mines in the Mediterranean that have survived to this day. Salt production began in ancient times. And the current appearance of the salt marshes is quite consistent with what it was during the Dubrovnik Republic. The production itself has not changed over the past two hundred years, and workers guarantee that they produce the highest quality salt. The only thing modified in 1925 was transportation. A railroad was built here, along which a locomotive transported wagons of salt from the pools to the warehouses.

But production continued to depend on the number of sunny days - the sun is very important for the crystallization process. If the year is rainy, salt cannot be collected. And so, the average productivity is 1500 tons per year. The largest “harvest” was collected in 1611. Then more than 6,000 tons of salt were mined here. By the way, we bought a little as a souvenir - 500 grams for 1.5 euros - and took it with us to Moscow. It is not bitter and does not contain anti-caking additives - it is always loose without this. But, nevertheless, you should not expect any completely unusual properties from this salt.

After resting a bit in a cafe and eating ice cream, we went to see two more churches. The first of them - St. Liberan of the 17th century - was under reconstruction and nothing could be seen. In addition, apparently, reconstruction is proceeding at a leisurely pace or has been completely suspended.

The other - the Church of St. Nicholas - on the contrary, was preserved very well, but, unfortunately, was closed. The Church of St. Nicholas and the Franciscan monastery of the same name were built in the second half of the 14th century in the Gothic style, but the bell tower was erected already in the 15th century, and it is made in the Renaissance style. The monastery, as well as the Church of St. Vlas, suffered many times from earthquakes.

And finally, after getting to know the city, we went to its walls. As I already wrote, salt has been mined in Ston for four thousand years. Previously, salt was worth its weight in gold, and therefore this place was the cause of wars among many powers for several millennia. When Ston and its salt plantations came under the control of the Republic of Dubrovnik, the construction of defensive walls began here to protect the basins from the Venetians and Turks.

The total length of the walls was 5.5 kilometers. The walls had 40 towers and 7 fortifications. The defenders of the city were hiding in them, bravely defending it, which finally made it possible to stop the “salt wars”. Due to its natural wealth, Ston was for a long time, until the arrival of Napoleon in 1808, the second most important city after Dubrovnik. But then salt began to depreciate, and interest in the city began to wane.

Nowadays the Ston Wall is used only for tourism purposes. There are three routes - a short one, which will take 20-30 minutes and will lead from one entrance to another, a long one, which allows you to walk in an hour to the neighboring town of Maly Ston, which I will talk about in detail later, and a route that at the time of our visit is still was under reconstruction. It will allow you to climb to the top of the hill.

Initially, we had grandiose plans, according to which we were going to go along the long route to Maly Ston to eat oysters there. But we had to give up the walk: in the sun the temperature reached 40 degrees, and we had to climb up the stairs with virtually no possibility of being in the shade. In general, the heat runs through our report as a red line. Therefore, you need to understand that if you cannot tolerate high temperatures, then there is nothing to do in Croatia in mid-July. I love the heat, but even for me it was too much and sometimes I wanted only one thing - to find myself in a place with air conditioning.

Even at the entrance to Ston, the wall looks like a grandiose structure, and right next to it you understand especially well how much effort was invested to preserve the independence of the city. The entrance to the wall is located behind the Church of St. Nicholas. There is also a toilet and some shade from trees for mental preparation for the climb :)

After walking around Ston, we went to see the Church of Our Lady of Luzhin. When we arrived, we discovered that the church was surrounded by a fence and the gate was closed. We were already upset when a man, apparently an employee of some neighboring enterprise, drove up and allowed us to walk around the territory.

The church itself has been preserved very well. During the Republic of Dubrovnik, when sea water entered the pools, a procession from the Church of St. Blaise went to the salt marshes, where the blessing of the whole complex was given, and a mass was held in the Church of Our Lady of Luzhin. The prince, salt marsh workers and residents of Ston took part in the mass and procession.

There, not far from the Church of St. Blaise, we were going to see the Church of St. Michael of the 9th century. We wandered along the surrounding dirt roads, walked deep into the bushes, but never found her. Maybe we had the wrong dot in the navigator, or maybe we never noticed the church behind the trees. You can read more about this church.

By the way, everywhere in Ston we came across signs “Napoleonic Way”, but did not know what they were talking about. We later found out that this was a road built by the French army with the participation of local residents. The fact is that before the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the French were considered one of the strongest naval powers, but then they lost this superiority and began building land roads. The Adriatic region was strategically important, so they tried to build a road here as soon as possible.

We returned to the car and went to Maly Ston - the same one where we first wanted to walk along the wall. Maly Ston is called small because the entire town consists of 10-15 houses, half of which are occupied by restaurants and hotels. But the most interesting thing here is the oyster farm. It would be great to go on an excursion, but we found out in advance that it only takes an hour and costs 100 euros. Therefore, we decided to taste local oysters in the restaurant, for which we ordered a plate of Frutas del mar and ate it with great pleasure. When paying the bill, we noticed that they included a certain Couvert (10 kn x 2, that is, approximately 3 euros). We asked to explain what it was, because we had never encountered anything like this, although we had been to European restaurants several times. The waiter said that this is a business restaurant and we pay for the table we occupy (despite the fact that the restaurant was practically empty). This caused us some surprise, but later on the forums we read that this was payment for what in normal places is called a compliment. And indeed, at the very beginning they brought us bread with tuna pate, which we did not order. But it was served in such a way that one could not doubt that it was really a compliment from the cook and was brought for free. In general, the impression of seafood remained somewhat blurred because of this minor, but still not entirely pleasant episode.

Maly Ston, despite its size, is the oyster capital of Europe. The city supplies its oysters not only to landlocked countries: even France, famous for its seafood, imports shellfish from here. If the high cost of an excursion to an oyster farm does not bother you, you can arrange a visit in advance by email [email protected]. The price of the excursion includes a boat ride around the farm, a bottle of wine, and an oyster tasting. More information can be found on the website http://www.malistonoysters.com, but it is not always available.

After walking around the city a little, we headed back. It should be noted that parking in Maly Ston is also paid and also costs 0.75 euros/hour. We decided not to pay and put under the glass the same piece of paper that the parking meter in Veliki Ston gave us, despite the fact that its validity had already expired. There were no consequences from this small offense.

We decided to go back through Bosnia and Herzegovina. We were lucky and there was no queue at the border at all, but on the oncoming road it stretched for kilometers. The landscapes in Bosnia are also quite picturesque. The road runs along the sea, but there is no open area because there is a large island directly opposite. In general, Bosnia has a very, very small coastal area, only about 10 kilometers, and we drove through it in about twenty minutes.

What we didn’t like was the Cyrillic alphabet smeared everywhere, including on the road signs. It would be better to replace them completely than to leave them as they are. Still, “fighting” with any alphabet, just like with any language, is an ignoble matter.

By the way, it was on this road that we came across tents with a lot of very sweet home-made fruit liqueurs. They let us try them out of the fridge and they tasted amazing! We took pear and tangerine, however, when we arrived in Moscow, it turned out that they were not so tasty at home. A year has passed and we still have them. It’s not because their taste has gone bad or we’ve been given the wrong bottles: there are simply some drinks that only drink well in the country where they’re made, and Croatian fruit liqueurs are definitely one of them.

Overall, we were very pleased with our trip to Ston. When we were preparing for the trip, in all the reports we came across the opinion that there was nothing special to do there, because much was destroyed by the earthquake. So, the Croats are actively restoring the city, and when we went, much had already been restored. Well, and look at the “Chinese” wall in Europe - isn’t that interesting?

A map of the attractions of Ston and the surrounding area can be viewed at the link. We remind you that we never found the Church of St. Michael - it is very likely that its location is indicated inaccurately.

The next series of posts will be about our again short, three-day, but very eventful trip to the south of Croatia. I’ve been to Dubrovnik many times, so we drove past it and the first stop on our way was the city of Ston, located on the isthmus connecting the mainland with the elongated Peljesac peninsula. Actually, these are two separate towns of Veliki and Maliston, located on opposite slopes of the same mountain, connected by two lines of medieval fortress walls. Today's post will be dedicated to the Big Ston, separate posts will be about walking along the wall and the Lesser Ston.

As always, a little history at the beginning. This area was inhabited back in the era of the Illyrians and Romans. Activity begins to manifest itself in the early Middle Ages, when various Slavic proto-states - zhupas - were fighting for the peninsula. The church and the remains of old buildings have been preserved there to this day. (Unfortunately, on that trip, this place fell out of my field of attention, like something else, but I will definitely catch up on this in the future). At the beginning of the 14th century, the city was taken over by the Dubrovsk residents. It is then that the construction of two separate cities begins, connected by walls and protected fortresses. This place was very important for Dubrovnik both strategically and economically. Ston's fortification system protected the peninsula from the land, and most importantly, it defended Solana, a salt mining site that still functions today. In those days, when there were no refrigerators, salt was a strategic product, compared with today's oil, and the possession of such a serious source of income was simply vital for the Dubrovnik Republic, which, in order to maintain virtual independence, had to constantly pay tribute to its formidable neighbors - at first Byzantium, then the Serbs and Bosnians, and then the Turks. This continued until the beginning of the 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, which had lost their military significance.

During our stay in Ston, the autumn Balkan weather constantly changed from gently sunny to threateningly cloudy and back again. But it didn't come to rain. Therefore, do not be surprised by the completely different skies in the photographs. They were all made almost at the same time.

2. The first thing a traveler who arrives in Veliki Ston (or more often just Ston) usually sees is this picture. The city, the fortress wall above it and two walls encircling the mountain and leading to Maly Ston. The row of houses that you see on the left was also closed by a wall in the past; the Austrians dismantled it as unnecessary in the 19th century.

3. The city blocks are regularly drawn rectangles. We went for a walk among the old buildings of Ston, to explore the city, and at the same time have a coffee somewhere.

5. A very interesting house, it has preserved Gothic elements - windows. And curiously, there are three separate, widely spaced top eyelets for Venetian shutters on two windows. There are four lower consoles, they are located as usual - along the edges of the windows.

6. In my opinion, a great place to have breakfast.

7. While we are waiting for breakfast, you can take a short jog around the area with a camera in order to take a few “atmospheric” (I don’t fully understand the meaning of this word, no one can explain it to me, but it is often used in comments regarding my photos) pictures.

8. A wonderful portal, it’s tempting to find out what’s behind it.

10. Near her is the city fountain. Previously, there were no water pipes, and when they appeared, again, not everyone had them.

11. Near the town hall is the Veliki Kašteo fort. The name is not original; “big castle”, as you understand, means. On repair. They are completely renovating it. And this is what immediately catches your eye here. The internal part is old medieval, before the era of firearms, built by the people of Dubrovnik when they received Ston, i.e. at the beginning of the 14th century. But the external frame, clearly later, from the 15th-16th centuries, is Venetian in style. Remember the fortress walls of Kotor or Old Bar. Meanwhile, I could not find any information about the time of the rebuilding of the fort, nor about the fact that Ston was owned by Venice at that time of transition. Firearms appeared, and all the old fortresses had to be rebuilt due to this revolutionary change in warfare. Mystery. Either Dubrovnik was built using Venetian technologies, or they ordered Venetian craftsmen.

12. Let's go around on the other side. A typical Venetian bastia adjoins the old (now new, remodeled) wall.

13. It’s a pity that you can’t go inside due to reconstruction. But there is a quadcopter. Yes, that's all true. The old fort framed by walls and low turrets is a bastion from the era of the first artillery.

14. Well, since we took off, it makes sense to immediately show everything else that is interesting from the air. Here is the Big Moan in its entirety. Before us are the ruins of the Church of St. Blaise, more about it later. In the distance on the left is the monastery of St. Nicholas, I will show it in a separate post. But behind the monastery, the western section of the wall is similar to the fort from the previous photos, high medieval walls framed by low ones from the era of the advent of firearms. From here you can hardly see them, I really regret that I didn’t go to that part of the walls. Another reason to visit Ston again.

15. Let's raise our flying car higher. Everything is in the palm of your hand - the fort (as I understand it, it used to be connected with the city wall into a single whole, the city, the walls going up the mountain, and even a piece of that very Solana was included in the frame.

16. Here it is, Solana. And the old building has been preserved. Look, its wall was reinforced with buttresses, apparently it had a tendency to fall.

17. Let's return to earth and continue our walk. Church of St. Blaise, the patron saint of Dubrovnik. Also under renovation. History says that the first church was here in the 14th century. It was destroyed several times and suffered during the most destructive earthquake in these parts in 1667. In its current form, combining elements of Gothic and Byzantine styles in masonry, it was built already at the end of the 19th century. Another earthquake in 1979 destroyed the church again. Restoration work is currently underway, and again you can’t get inside.

“I ate oysters that smelled strongly of the sea, cold white wine washed away the slight metallic taste, and then only the taste of the sea and the sensation of a juicy mass in the mouth remained; and swallowed cold juice from each shell, washing it down with tart wine, and this feeling of emptiness disappeared from me, and I felt happy and began to make plans.”

Ernest HEMINGWAY, "A Holiday That Always Be With You"

I tried oysters for the first time in Croatia. And since then I firmly believe that you can eat them only if you have direct visibility of the sea. The taste of frozen and freshly pulled from the sea is different, like the taste of crab and crab sticks.

I’ll tell you in more detail where and when to eat them when you’re in Croatia.

Oysters (kamenica in Croatian) are grown in two locations. In the south of Croatia, on the Peljesac peninsula in Dalmatia, in the Neretva Bay (canal). And in the north, in the Lima Canal on the peninsula Istria. European flat oysters "Ostrea edulis" and "Mytilus galloprovinicialis" are grown here. Oysters require water with low salinity. And both channels work well.

Oysters near Dubrovnik

It will be convenient for you to go to Ston if you are traveling in the area of ​​Dubrovnik and the Makarska Riviera.

The Pelješac Peninsula in Dalmatia (in the south) is separated from the mainland by the Gulf of Neretva. The water in it is of low salinity, because the Neretva River flows into it.

I couldn’t find any normal photos of Moan, since every time we go there in the evening.

Photo by Boris Jov ić . Neretva Strait, oyster farm

We accidentally ended up in the tiny town of Ston on Pelješec in the fall of 2011. We waited half a day in Dubrovnik for the ferry to our beloved island of Mljet, and when it arrived, it turned out that it was only a passenger one, and we were by car. Frustrated and without plans, we went to Peljesac (70 kilometers), because not far from Ston there is a beautiful Prapratno bay with a ferry pier for car ferries. And we spent one of the best evenings of our lives in Ston:)

Photo by Boris Jović. Prapratno Bay

It was the end of September, there were no more tourists from cruise ships, who are brought to Ston by buses from Dubrovnik because of the 5-kilometer fortress walls on the mountain. There were cafe tables right on the streets of Ston and all the few guests spoke Italian. The waiter (konobar in Croatian) said that the oysters here are of high quality and the freshest (caught an hour ago), and are incredibly cheap - 1 euro each. That's why Italians love Ston.

They order dozens of them. There is no way to describe the taste. Like a sip of the sea. Hemingway said it all. They are served with lemon and black pepper. They are also offered in some prepared form (baked). But this is not serious. Oysters are not food. This is different.

Then we were also in Ston in May. It's always good there.

Photo by Boris Jovi . Oyster farm

Oysters from the Lima Canal

It is more convenient and closer to travel to the Lima Canal on the Istrian Peninsula from Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

We really like Fjord. Previously, we looked at all restaurants and cafes only as guests, but now we cannot help but look at them as restaurateurs. Despite the fact that this is a very tourist place, to which buses constantly deliver, the quality of service almost does not drop even at the height of the season.

I know how difficult it is and that's why I choose and support Fjord Restaurant for the efforts they make to maintain quality service.

It is generally accepted that Normandy serves the most delicious oysters. But it turns out that not only this country can please gourmets with fresh shellfish. The famous food of millionaires is also successfully grown in Croatia, where there are several oyster farms. The quality of local shellfish is in no way inferior to Norman shellfish and goes well with amazing Croatian wines.

An exclusive Croatian delicacy

Mali Ston is a small village on the Peljesac peninsula in southern Croatia. Despite its small area, the town managed to gain fame as the most famous gastronomic place in the country. And all thanks to fresh shellfish. This is where one of the largest oyster and mussel farms in Croatia is located. Many tourists come to Mali Ston to enjoy the taste of fresh shellfish just caught from the sea, complementing the delicious meal with quality wine. This Croatian village is the only place in the world where small round oysters are grown. For the sake of breeding such shellfish, construction in this area was even prohibited, leaving the territory exclusively for the safe life of marine inhabitants.

If you are interested in seeing the process of growing shellfish, take a tour of an oyster farm. You definitely won’t be bored, because you will not only be told about what happens to the shellfish before serving, but will also be offered to taste oysters with different sauces and a glass of white wine. The Peljesac Peninsula, among other things, is also one of the famous areas with extensive vineyards. The most popular grape variety Plavac Mali produces excellent wines: red wine Dingač and white wine Postup.

Which restaurants serve such a gastronomic exclusive? There are many similar establishments in Mali Ston, but the most popular is Kapitanova Kucha. Kapetanova Kuča.Here you can safely order any seafood - three steps from the water, everything is so fresh that any choice you make will bring you a lot of pleasure.

Oyster Festival in Dubrovnik

You can also try fresh oysters in the famous tourist center of Croatia - Dubrovnik. At the end of March and beginning of April, the gastronomic festival “Festa od kamenica” is held here, dedicated to these delicious shellfish. The timing of the celebration is determined by the fact that during this period the oysters are the most ripe and, of course, the most delicious. Therefore, it’s worth visiting Dubrovnik in spring not only for the beautiful nature and fresh air, but also for the delicious seafood delicacies. After all, what could be better than a meal of fresh oysters sprinkled with lemon juice? Every gourmet's dream!

However, spring – not the only time when you can try delicious oysters. There is a misconception that shellfish are not suitable for consumption in summer. But it is precisely during this period that the weather in Croatia is beautiful, a riot of colors and a fresh sea breeze create the ideal atmosphere for relaxation. Is it really impossible to treat yourself to a delicacy during your vacation? The fact is that the emergence of such a misconception is associated with certain long-standing rules. Previously, in order to preserve the oyster population, mollusks were not allowed to be caught during their breeding season (from May to August). Now this ban has been lifted, and the rule has become a myth that should not be taken seriously. Therefore, you can safely treat yourself to this sea delicacy all year round.

A paradise for seafood lovers

One of the many picturesque places in Croatia and part-time oyster farm is the Lima Canal. The unique bay is very reminiscent of a Norwegian fjord in appearance. You can get there by water, taking a short cruise, or by car, admiring the picturesque Adriatic coast along the way. The Gulf of Lima is an ideal habitat for shellfish, because seawater mixes with pepper water here, and sunlight penetrates well.

That's why the local restaurants always serve only fresh oysters from a local farm. The most popular restaurant in the Lima Fjord is Viking. The restaurant's varied menu allows you not to limit yourself to shellfish alone, because the natural bay is also rich in various types of fish and octopus, squid, mussels, and scallops. If you want to try everything at once, we recommend ordering the “ribna plata” dish - assorted grilled seafood. And don’t forget to order the most popular wine of the peninsula, Istrian Malvasia. This light white wine with a characteristic floral aroma is the best way to enjoy the gifts of the generous Adriatic Sea. The best producer of this wine today is the Kozlovich brand ( Kozlovic).