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In the central area of the island of Pag, the acropolis with the church of St. Mary stands above the vast salt basins as part of the former Pag, whose beginnings date back to antiquity. The name Pag is first mentioned in written sources in 976, when King Stjepan Drzislav liberated Pag, which until then was under Byzantine rule.
One of the important events in the history of the city of Pag is the receipt of a document by King Bel IV:, with which Pag was given the status of a Free Royal City. This event took place on March 30, 1244. To commemorate it, this date was declared as the Day of the City of Pag. Since they were constantly in the middle of the struggle between Rab and Zadar for supremacy over the island, the people of Pazan wanted autonomy, for which they fought with all legal means. Pag judge Belota Dobronic partially succeeded in reviving the idea of Pag autonomy at the General Croatian Assembly in Nin in 1396. In 1376, King Ludovik I of Croatia confirmed Pag's rights as a Free Royal City, when he granted it new benefits. In 1403, King Ladislav sold his share of Dalmatia to Venice, which included the town of Pag. Since then, Pag was under the rule of the Republic of Venice for several centuries. It received its city statute in 1433, one of the first such documents in the area of Croatia. In the middle of the 15th century, there was an increasing threat from the Turks, and because of this, in May 1443, the people of Pag began to build the new city of Pag in the area where it is still located today. Plans for the construction of a new city were made in Venice, and the sculptor and builder Juraj Matejev Dalmatinac also took part in them. The locals moved to the new town of Pag in 1467. The town they left behind was called Stari grad or Staro mesto, as it is still called today. The new city provided greater security, as it was surrounded by walls and additionally fortified with nine towers. All the inhabitants of the Old Town moved to Pag, which makes the history of old and new Pag indivisible and complete. The ruins of the Old Town of Pag are well preserved and marked with information boards. They lead to a small observation hill with a church, where the legend of the Old Town of Pag is also located.
It covers the following points: the church of St. Kuzma, the walls, the cathedral church, St. Ambrose, the church of St. Jakob, church of St. Anthony the Abbot, the municipal palace, St. Gregory, the church of St. Gregor, the church of St. Jelena, monastery of St. Peter, the entrance to the bay, which is closed with chains, St. James, where the new town is built, and the church of St. Margaret with a monastery.