This quaint, sunny southern town full of striking Ottoman architecture is a true playground for those intrigued by anthropology, archaeology and history.The area has been settled for at least 15,000 years as evidenced by the markings in Badanj Cave, which experts have dated 12,000 - 16,000 BCE. Throughout its long history, Stolac has been an outstandingly cultured town. No other town in Bosnia and Herzegovina has produced such a rich array of intellectuals, artists, poets and leaders. Strolling through Stolac to the sound of the rushing Bregava river and the many songbirds, it is easy to imagine the inspiration felt by its many generations of extraordinary personalities.
Stolac is located in the area known as Herzegovina Humina, on the tourist route crossing Herzegovina linking the mountainous hinterland in Bosnia with the coastal regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dubrovnik and Montenegro. This road, which runs from Sarajevo via Mostar, Stolac, Ljubinje and Trebinje, enables one to reach Dubrovnik in less than four hours. Another route leads from Imotski and Ljubuški, Međugorje, Čapljina, Stolac, Berković and Bileća.
Thanks to its favourable natural conditions - geological composition, contours, climate, hydrographic and vegetation - Stolac and its environs have been settled since ancient times. Its rich hunting-grounds and other natural benefits attracted prehistoric man, and later the Illyrians, Romans and Slavs, all of whom left behind them a wealth of evidence of their material culture.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE (PALAEOLITHIC SITE) OF BADANJ IN BOROJEVIĆI NEAR STOLAC consists of a semi-cave or overhang recessed beneath a cliff that descends to the right bank of the river Bregava. Two chronologically distinct strata of palaeolithic settlement were identified beneath the surface layer. Of particular significance was the discovery of a drawing carved into the rock of the Badanj site, one of the oldest examples of art in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The drawing is cut into the diagonal surface of a large polished block of stone, and probably represents the figure of a horse seen from the offside flank that has been hit by arrows. Only the rear half of the body survives, with flanks typical for a horse and part of the body; the rest of the drawing has been destroyed. The Badanj carving includes figures of animals and symbols, as is typical of Mediterranean palaeolithic art. The site is dated to the late Upper Palaeolithic, i.e. 1300 to 12000 BCE, and was discovered in 1976. The drawing was found beside the cave, the first of its kind on the eastern Adriatic coast, and is partly damaged.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE HELLENISTIC TOWN OF DAORSON, OŠANIĆI consists of three linked groups the disposition of which is dictated by the lie of the land. The central area is occupied by a dominant hill fort or acropolis below and to the south and south-west of which are terraces on the ridge, while to the east, on the Banje plateau, is the outer-acropolis area of residential and commercial, mainly artisanal and trade quarters of the settlement. The hill fort was built on a prehistoric fortified settlement which had been in existence there since the early (17/16th century BCE) to the end of the late Bronze Age (9/8th century BCE). The date of the ransacking of the town of Daorson that finally put an end to human settlement there can be determined with fair accuracy as the mid or second half of the 1st century BCE from the details of the wars waged by the Roman Praetor Vatinius against the Delmati. No permanent settlement ever arose on the ruins of the town of Daors. There is ample evidence of its advanced culture and civilization: it minted its own coins and produced complex artistically decorated buckles, there is graffiti on shards of pottery vessels, and parts of stone statues of human figures some 2 m in height were found. A megalithic wall, erected following the lie of the land, has been dated to the 4th century BCE, when both towers were probably built following the construction of the wall. The rest of the acropolis is of later date, through to the 1st century BCE. One of the most important finds is a helmet with the Greek inscription ΠΙИ, probably the abbreviated Illyrian name of the owner PINNES; it was probably made in the 3rd century BCE. The site is exposed to rapid deterioration as a result of lack of maintenance and failure to carry out even minimum protection measures.
Thanks to its favourable natural conditions - geological composition, contours, climate, hydrographic and vegetation - Stolac and its environs have been settled since ancient times. Its rich hunting-grounds and other natural benefits attracted prehistoric man, and later the Illyrians, Romans and Slavs, all of whom left behind them a wealth of evidence of their material culture.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE (PALAEOLITHIC SITE) OF BADANJ IN BOROJEVIĆI NEAR STOLAC consists of a semi-cave or overhang recessed beneath a cliff that descends to the right bank of the river Bregava. Two chronologically distinct strata of palaeolithic settlement were identified beneath the surface layer. Of particular significance was the discovery of a drawing carved into the rock of the Badanj site, one of the oldest examples of art in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The drawing is cut into the diagonal surface of a large polished block of stone, and probably represents the figure of a horse seen from the offside flank that has been hit by arrows. Only the rear half of the body survives, with flanks typical for a horse and part of the body; the rest of the drawing has been destroyed. The Badanj carving includes figures of animals and symbols, as is typical of Mediterranean palaeolithic art. The site is dated to the late Upper Palaeolithic, i.e. 1300 to 12000 BCE, and was discovered in 1976. The drawing was found beside the cave, the first of its kind on the eastern Adriatic coast, and is partly damaged.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE OF THE HELLENISTIC TOWN OF DAORSON, OŠANIĆI consists of three linked groups the disposition of which is dictated by the lie of the land. The central area is occupied by a dominant hill fort or acropolis below and to the south and south-west of which are terraces on the ridge, while to the east, on the Banje plateau, is the outer-acropolis area of residential and commercial, mainly artisanal and trade quarters of the settlement. The hill fort was built on a prehistoric fortified settlement which had been in existence there since the early (17/16th century BCE) to the end of the late Bronze Age (9/8th century BCE). The date of the ransacking of the town of Daorson that finally put an end to human settlement there can be determined with fair accuracy as the mid or second half of the 1st century BCE from the details of the wars waged by the Roman Praetor Vatinius against the Delmati. No permanent settlement ever arose on the ruins of the town of Daors. There is ample evidence of its advanced culture and civilization: it minted its own coins and produced complex artistically decorated buckles, there is graffiti on shards of pottery vessels, and parts of stone statues of human figures some 2 m in height were found. A megalithic wall, erected following the lie of the land, has been dated to the 4th century BCE, when both towers were probably built following the construction of the wall. The rest of the acropolis is of later date, through to the 1st century BCE. One of the most important finds is a helmet with the Greek inscription ΠΙИ, probably the abbreviated Illyrian name of the owner PINNES; it was probably made in the 3rd century BCE. The site is exposed to rapid deterioration as a result of lack of maintenance and failure to carry out even minimum protection measures.
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