Town of Pag
When you come to the island of Pag, you’ll be taken aback by its moon-like surface, because harsh, sharp rocks extend all around, with only an occasional small plant indicating that there is any sign of life at all. The landscape’s severity has bequeathed Pag with a multitude of gifts that set it apart from other places, and unusual endurance and tenacity to the people who live on this unique island. Venturing into the island’s interior, the town of Pag will reveal itself like the pearl in an oyster shell, with its many unique and resplendent features that had been concealed from the eyes of outsiders for centuries. Pag is a town with a distinctive atmosphere, as the aroma of its rich cultural history seems to waft from its stone streets, among the manors of its former nobility, where you can encounter the last generation of women wearing traditional folk attire, and experience the spirit of Mediterranean life. The new Pag, constructed by design in the latter half of the 15th century, represents one of the most ambitious urban planning projects on the Croatian coast, because it was moved from the site of the Old Town to its current location. The foundations of the new town were laid on 18 May 1443, so Pag is one of the rare urban communities anywhere in the world that has an exact date of birth. This harmonious stone town is home to many former structures – churches, palaces and other cultural-historical monuments that take us back to some long-past times.
Pag is also a town of lace, because it is the only place where Pag lace is made. This loveliest handicraft made by industrious women’s hands has even been inscribed in UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. The Pag Lace Gallery was opened on the town’s main square under the care of the Frane Budak Society of Pag Lacemakers. A rich collection of Pag lace can be seen in the Benedictine Abbey.
The International Lace Festival is held in Pag every year in June in honour of lace and Pag’s lacemakers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha901XT3CZw
The town of Pag is also renowned for its traditional carnival, and the Pag Summer Carnival, the oldest summertime carnival in Croatia, is held on the last weekend in July. Many are motivated to visit precisely because of this delightful festival.
Everyone who sets foot on this stone island must try the renowned Pag cheese, which is given its special flavour by aromatic herbs, pummelled by bora winds, seasoned with salt from the sea and then eaten by the island’s sheep.
Salt has always been a symbol of Pag, and the town of Pag may indeed be called a salt town. The Permanent Salt Production Exhibition is open to all visitors.
http://pag-gradzdravlja.eu/
https://solana-pag.hr/upoznajte-nas/?lang=en
The Benedictine Abbey houses an exhibition of ecclesiastical art, and the Holy Thorn stands out among its exponents. In the entire world, only the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Benedictine Abbey of St. Marguerite in Pag have official confirmation from the Holy See that the Holy Thorns they hold are those that were part of the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus. The Benedictine Abbey of St. Marguerite, as something of a treasury of preserved traditions and still living practices, can also boast of culinary attractions. Pag baškotin (rusk), koludraška štrika (nuns’ pastry), kolacić (similar to a bagel), badešina torta (abbess cake), rafijoli (ravioli) and pandešpanj (sponge cake) are considered vital components of Pag’s cultural heritage both locally and beyond.
The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary has had special significance in Pag since 1855, when 200 people died of cholera. Pag’s residents vowed to the Madonna of the Old Town that on the Feast of the Assumption they would bear the statue of Our Lady to the new town of Pag, and that they would return it to the Old Town on the Nativity of Mary. A particular feature of this procession is that the statue of Our Lady is borne for three kilometres by men wearing exquisite folk attire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Hlp7gxqYQ
The island of Pag is one of the sunniest islands in the Adriatic Sea, with over 2,500 hours of sunshine annually, and it has 270 km of lovely gravel beaches.
