 Trpanj remained the property of the Ghetaldi-Gondola family and its inhabitants would pay the landlord a fixed sum of money every year instead of the traditional services and gifts in nature until the Trpanj residents, the first on Pelješac, decided to legally buy their town from the landlord and relieve themselves of official serfdom in 1856.On the small hill just above the port was a fortress of a considerable size, and its northern walls are especially well preserved.The total length of the walls is 60 m. The location, plan and wall construction indicate that it was built in late antiquity, probably in the time of the Byzantine emperor Justinian who built a series of fortresses along the Croatian coast to protect maritime commerce, after having driven the Goths out of Dalmatia.