Pelješac

Pelješac (pronounced [pɛ̌ʎɛʃats]; Chakavian: Pelišac; Italian: Sabbioncello) is a peninsula in southern Dalmatia[1] in Croatia.

Other names have been used throughout history, such as the South Slavic Stonski Rat, the Latin Puncta Stagni and the Italian Ponta di Stagno.

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.

From 1304, Zahumlje was ruled by Mladen Šubić, then again for a short period by local župan, and from 1325 by Stjepan II Kotromanić.

The usurpation by the Branivojević brothers, forced the people of Dubrovnik to fight them in 1326 with the help of Stjepan II Kotromanić.

Since the conflict between the Ban in Bosnia and Serbian king, the Dubrovniks purchased Pelješac with Ston from both rulers in 1333.

Eastern Orthodoxy had appeared in Pelješac in the late 12th century, when the Catholic bishop was expelled from Ston and an Orthodox episcopate was established on the peninsula.

However, despite the dominance of Orthodoxy, Catholicism had been preserved in the region,[7] and when the Pelješac peninsula came under the rule of Dubrovnik in 1333, it was still mostly inhabited by Catholics, with the presence of Orthodox and Bogomils.

One of the first tasks of the new administration was therefore to spread Catholicism, create parishes and build churches and monasteries, in accordance with the principles of Cuius regio.

It bypasses the narrow strip of coastline at Neum that grants Bosnia and Herzegovina sea access.

There are car ferry routes connecting Trpanj to Ploče on the mainland, Orebić to Korčula on the eponymous island, and Prapratno to Sobra on Mljet.