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OPUZEN
Opuzen is the seat of the most
valuable part of the Neretva delta from the agrarian point of view. It
developed on the spot where the Small Neretva splits from the main
flow of the Neretva, 12 km upstream from the mouth. The people of
Dubrovnik built the Posrednica fortification on that spot in the
Middle Ages so as to protect their merchant interests. On the spot of
Posrednica the Croato-Hungarian rulers erected the Koš
fortification. After Počitelj had been taken over by the Turks in
1471 its garrison moved to Koš and was there until Neretva
fell in Turkish hands round 1490. There is an even older Brštanik
fortification not far from Opuzen, above the place called Podgradina.
It was built by the Bosnian king Tvrtko I in 1383. There wasn't a
bigger settlement in this area until the year 1715. In that year the
Venetians deserted Čitluk and moved their military garrison
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to the
island of Posrednica, where Fort Opus was erected. The present town
was named after it. The remains of the mentioned fortifications haven't been
preserved until the present day. Opuzen is the oldest administrative,
cultural and educational center of the lower Neretva area. In 1798 a
public school was opened. The importance that it had was lost in the
nineteenth century, because it was away from the important traffic routes
and Metković took the leading role. Its second development happened
after the Second World War, when it was at the crossroads of road routes
that connect the Adriatic coast with the interior of Bosnia and Herzegowina.
The production of citrus fruits, which is concentrated in its vicinity, has
contributed to its development in the last decades
Apart from natural beauties chance
travelers may be attracted also with Roman sculptures found in Narona, which
are situated on the main square in Opuzen in front of the county
district building. St. Stephan's church has the dominant position on
King Tomislav's square. It was built in 1883 on the spot of an older,
shabbier church. The new building has all the elements of the baroque style
and is furnished with marble altars from the Bilinić workshop from
Split. The painting by the Italian painter Filip Naldi from 1852,
where St Stephen's stoning is shown, is the most valuable thing in it
