Paški Sir Cheese

Social/Political

The Island of Pag has a mild continental climate due to the close proximity of the beautiful mountain range Velibit with its cold snowy peaks. Pag is the most indented island in the Adriatic which provides perfect conditions for cheese making. The Island of Pag has a long tradition of cheese making and agriculture.

Hot and cold air amasses high on the mountain tops and particularly in winter, gives birth to the famous Pag Bura. A strong, cool, dry wind that gathers strength as it tumbles down the southern slopes of Velibit onto the calm seas. Here it creates a beautiful scenery of tiny sea droplets swirling in the air, not unlike dust devils dancing on the surface of the water. The Bura then dries and turns into dry salt dust, which it then scatters all over the Island of Pag, turning it into a beautiful white salty Island. The salt dust becomes wet when it falls onto the vegetation, as if it was thrown upon it as boiling water, and in these conditions upon the rocky hills of the Island of Pag, only the extremely resilient and aromatic plant species will survive. The best known and most precious is the fragrant Paška Sage, there are numerous colonies of this purple flowered plant which adorn the pure white limestone in May, and fill the air with its scent.

In 1774, the travel writer Alberto Fortis, on his way to Dalmatia, wrote about Pag’s products of sea salt, sage honey, wool and Paški Sir. Until early in the 20th century, the inhabitants of Kolan had their own dry stone huts in which they milked the sheep and made Paški Sir. These stone houses are adorned in sedge and reeds from the nearby fields, the huts were built out of town on the rocky hills above the pastures.

The majority of the pastures are located on the hilly parts of the island and are recognisable in that they are surrounded by dry stone walls. From far off, the intricate stone walls resemble the famous Pag Lace (Paški Čipka) as they traverse the rocky summits. But back then there was no private ownership of the pastures and the sheep freely grazed on all the land.