In Polače on the hill above the late antique palace is the Kaštio tower, for which archaeologists have not yet discovered from which historical period it originates. Croatian archaeologist and conservator Dubravka Beritić started the archeological research, but the research was never completed. Only an architectural image was made on which a machine gun nest from the 2nd st. war. This has often been confusing in the professional literature because the original shape of the tower has not been drawn. Below is a photograph of the Kaštio site from 1975 from the archives of the Dubrovnik Conservation Department.
This year, the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia provided funds for the archaeological research of the tower performed by Arheo plan d.o.o. from Dubrovnik. After the removal of the machine gun nest’s bulwark, the tower door appeared on the north side, and from the east corner of the tower down the slope there is a wall – a fender that served as an obstacle to direct enemy attack on the fortification door. It is a unique archaeological find on the island and beyond and further research will show from which time the tower originates. Archaeological research will last 10 days and will make all the necessary architectural and archaeological documentation.
