Ston, in 1333, Dubrovnik permanently acquired Ston and Rat, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the region's history. A new town of Ston was built and assigned a rector, the salt pans were restored, and 150 families from Dubrovnik settled there. By 1359, Ston and Mali Ston were encircled by a double defensive wall, becoming "impregnable." The area where Mali Ston and Veliki Ston are located today is historically one of the richest in the entire Dubrovnik region. Due to its exceptional location—situated on the narrow isthmus connecting the Pelješac Peninsula to the mainland, featuring a fertile field with abundant water and a shallow bay ideal for salt production—it became a human settlement in the earliest times.

The city center, situated on the eastern side of the Marjan Peninsula—now a protected forest park—is formed by the ancient 4th-century Diocletian's Palace (under UNESCO protection since October 26, 1979[4]), a unique example of its kind worldwide. Adjoining the ancient palace and extending westward along the southern coast lies the medieval core. Over the years, numerous newer and even modern Split neighborhoods have sprung up to the west, east, and north of these two cores, which now form a single, unified whole. Located on the northern coast of the Split Peninsula are the Poljud City Stadium—home to HNK Hajduk since its construction—the Brodosplit shipyard (long the city's largest economic entity), and the Lora naval base, which currently houses the headquarters of the Croatian Navy. Split is the largest city in Dalmatia and, by population, the second-largest city in Croatia. It serves as the economic and cultural hub of Dalmatia.