Pag is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea. It is the fifth-largest island of the Croatian coast and the one with the longest coastline.
Pag belongs to the north Dalmatian archipelago and it extends northwest-southeast along the coast, forming the Velebit channel. The island has an area of 284.56 square kilometres (109.87 sq mi) and the coastline is 269.2 kilometres (167.27 mi). It is around 60 kilometres (37 miles) long (from northwest to southeast) and between 2 and 10 kilometres (1.2 and 6.2 miles) wide.
The southwestern coast of the island is low (including the Pag Bay with the large Caska cove), and the northwestern is steep and high (including Stara Novalja Bay). Most of the island is rocky; smaller areas are covered with Mediterranean shrubs. The southeast of the island contains karst lakes Velo Blato and Malo Blato.
The island's highest peak, at 349 metres (1,145 feet), is Sveti Vid (St Vitus).
The earliest settlers on the island were an Illyrian tribe that came to the region in the Bronze Age; traces of their settlement can still be seen around Pag. In the 1st century BC, the Romans took possession, and have left numerous archeological and cultural artifacts.
The Croats arrived in the 7th century along with the great migration and settled in the area.
Pag Island is well known for at least 4 things, the first of them you meet (or at least their parents) just after crossing the bridge! Paška janjetina (lamb) is consider to be one of the best lambs you can get in Croatia, if not even in Europe, do to the high concentration of salt on the Island, the sheep’s diet consisting of grass and wild herbs gives the lam from here a very special taste.
The second thing which Pag is known for is the Paški sir, which is a cheese made from sheep milk, again the sheep’s diet place an important role in terms of generating a very special taste, but also the facts that the cheese is rubbed in olive oil before maturing are said to have great impact on the taste. It is generally regarded as the most famous of all artisan cheeses made in the country and can be found in many markets outside Croatia.
The third thing which Pag is known for is salt, the last 7-8 km before you reach Pag city, (following the road 106 Pšski most - Pag) you will on you left hand side see a large area of strange looking flat fields, this is the production area of the company Solana Pag, who is the main salt producer in Croatia, so if you have bought salt in the supermarket down here, you have for sure tried there product.
The fourth thing, the lace of Pag.
Pag lace is a unique product of the hard-working and skilful hands of the women from the town of Pag. Lace-making is a very old tradition throughout the Mediterranean. In the town of Pag, the making of lace for the needs of women’s and clerical vestments was already recorded in the mid-15th century. In the Convent of St. Margaret, the nuns instructed girls, teaching them to read and write and to make lace. Archival sources from 1579 testify to this. History recalls the time when Pag’s women were summoned to Vienna to the imperial court before the Archduchess Maria Josepha, the emperor’s mother, to show her how Pag lace is made.
In 2009, Pag lace was registered in the list of intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. It was registered in UNESCO’s list together with the lace from the island of Hvar and the town of Lepoglava, thereby becoming one of seven Croatian intangible cultural goods included in this list.
This video shows the ascent to Sveti Vid from the direction of Šimuni.
Camera: Fran Bukša - F.B.F. Productions
Video editing: Alan Crljenko
Music: Eleven 33 "Rise"