Page 138 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Croatia

136  CRO A TIA AREA B Y AREA

Delta of the River Neretva in Opuzen, drained and turned into fertile fields
g Opuzen h Narona village stands on much of the site
of ancient Narona, 3 km (2 miles)
Map E6. * 3,250. @ Metković, Map E6. @ Metković, (060) 365 365.
(060) 365 365. n Trg kralja n (020) 691 596. ∑ a-m-narona.hr from Metković. In the museum
Tomislava 1, (020) 671 139. are statues of Roman emperors
∑ opuzen.hr The ancient Roman town of and their families, as well as
Colonia Julia Narona was pottery, glassware, weapons,
At the edges of the delta of founded by the Romans in the jewels and stone monuments
the River Neretva, where the 1st century BC. It was an impor- that were found in Narona. A part
road leaves the Magistrala tant road junction and a trading of the collection is also on display
coast road (E65) and climbs centre with the Adriatic hinter- at the Archaeological Museum
the river valley, stands Opuzen. land and the region of today’s Split (see p125).
For centuries it was fortified Bosnia-Herzegovina, and had The 16th-century Church
and has always been temples, baths, a theatre and of St Vitus (Sv. Vid) stands just
considered something other buildings grouped around outside the town on the site of
of a border town. the Forum. A walled town, it was a 5th-century church, of which
Towards the end of one of the first dioceses in the only parts of the apse remain.
the 15th century, the Balkans and flourished
Hungarian-Croat king, until the 7th century
Matthias Corvinus, built when it was occupied j Neum
the fort of Koš here. It and destroyed by the Bosnia-Herzegovina. Map E6.
was captured by the Avars and the Slavs. * 2,500. @ Metković, (060) 365 365.
Turks in 1490 who ruled At the end of the 19th ∑ neum.ba
until 1686, when it century, after a few chance
came under Venetian discoveries, the Austrian All the buses running along the
rule. There are also archaeologist Karl Patsch coastal road between Split and
traces of a 13th- began to carry out Dubrovnik pass through the 9-km
century castle built Head of Emperor Vespasian, excavations. Work (5-mile) stretch of coast that is
by the Republic of now in Vid’s Museum continued after part of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The
Dubrovnik and the World War II and main town in this area is Neum,
remains of a fort (Fort Opus), uncovered objects from pagan which is a holiday resort and
built by the Venetians to and Christian temples, houses Bosnia’s only coastal town. Prices
defend the border of their and public works. In 1995, a are cheaper here than in Croatia,
territories. The town takes its particularly fine temple was and as a result it is a popular
name from this fort and the discovered. Large parts of the place for Croatians to stop off
ruins can be seen on the area have still to be explored, and go shopping.
eastern side of town. but it is possible to get an idea Neum is a border town, and
On the main square are some of the importance of the town visitors should carry passports.
fragments discovered in the by visiting the Archaeological There are several hotels and
ancient town of Narona. Museum Narona in Vid. This tourist facilities.
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp228–33 and pp240–45

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