Pag

Pag is an island in the northern Adriatic whose shallow bays supported a long tradition of salt production. Medieval Pag grew near the salterns, south of the present town. Salt linked the island's economy to maritime trade and to the political rivalry of the Dalmatian coast.

In 1244 King Béla IV granted Pag the status of a free royal town. Following conflict with neighbouring Zadar, its inhabitants began building a new town in 1443, in a period of growing Ottoman pressure. Venetian rule shaped the island's subsequent early modern history; the sculptor and architect Juraj Dalmatinac took part in the new town's planning.