Daorson
At the time, the strongest city in Herzegovina, and the capital of a Hellenized Illyrian tribe called the Daorsi.Remnants of once the strongest city in Herzegovina
Daorson is historic area near city of Stolac. It was the capital of a Hellenized Illyrian tribe called the Daorsi. In his prime, Daorson was the strongest city in this area (today called Herzegovina). The remains of this ancient city are located in Ošanjići, few kilometers from Stolac, on a hill 280-290 meters above sea level. From this location, ancient Daors had a view of the whole area of Stolac valley. Today, you can find remains of the city which are magnificent. Because of the big rocks shaped perfectly, it will make you wonder how people did this 300 years BCE.
Daorson was formed out of three units which of acropolis was main and central unit. It was surrounded with cyclopean walls made of huge stone blocks. Also, in the acropolis was based all the important administrative, public and religious buildings. Defensive wall that was surrounding it was huge, 65 meters long, 4.2 meters wide and between 4.5 and 7.5 meters high. Furthermore, Archaeologist have found a lot of ceramic like wine amphorae. They used Greek mythological figures, like Aphrodite, Nika, Dionysius, Muse, Pegasus and others, to decorate it. Besides that, they also used the Greek language and alphabet and kept trading relations with the Greeks. In Daorson they also found 39 different coins. Most of them had King Ballaios as a main object.
But, one of the most important objects that have been founded here is a helmet with the Greek inscription ΠΙИ. It was probably made in the 3rd century BCE and represents abbreviated Illyrian name of the owner PINNES (ancient king).
Daorson is listed as National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
