Pag (town)

Pag is the largest town on the island of Pag, with a population of 3,121 (2005), located at 44.44°N 15.06°E. Whole municipality has a population of 5,100.

Pag was the seat of a Roman Catholic Bishop of Cissa.

In 1443 the new town was founded and built according to new principles of town-planning. The longitudinal and the transversal streets, the latter known as Vela ulica, intersect at a right angle, forming in this way a rectangular square with the Collegiate Church, the Duke’s Palace and the unfinished Bishop’s Palace, which, as well as the town walls, were built by the famous mason and sculptor Giorgio da Sebenico.

The Collegiate Church is a three-nave basilica with three apses. The simple front is decorated with a Gothic portal, a Renaissance rosette and unfinished figures of the saints. In 1466 Juraj Dalmatinac became supervisor of the construction works on the church, while the building itself was carried out by his disciples; finished not before the beginning of the 16th century; restored in the 18th century, when the stucco work on the ceiling was performed. The church accommodates valuable works of art: the altar painting Our Lady of the Rosary, the Gothic wooden cross, and the silver processional crucifix and reliquaries are safeguarded in the treasury. The bell tower with its present height was erected in 1526.

In the Benedictine church of St. Marguerite, constructed after the plan of Juraj Dalmatinac, a silver processional cross and reliquaries are kept. The church of St. George, bearing Renaissance features, is a work of local masons from the 16th century.

There are several houses and smaller palaces with Renaissance façades, portals and coats of arms of local noble families in the town.

The Old Town includes partially preserved walls and the main church, a three-nave basilica built in the Romanesque style; the fronts of the Romanesque and Gothic styles were built in 1392 by the sculptor Paul from Sulmona. The ruins of a Franciscan monastery from 1589 are near the church.

Pag Town is also the place of origin of Paška čipka, the famous lacework whose first mention is related to sisters of the Order of Saint Benedict in 1579.