Museum of Pag Lace

Pag Lace was inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009 as one of just three intangible cultural elements recognised in Croatia, and this dedicated museum on the main square of Pag old town is the essential place to understand this extraordinarily fine needlepoint craft. Traditional Pag Lace is made using a single needle and thread on a special round pillow called 'balunčić', worked from geometric memorised patterns passed down through female lineages for at least 500 years; a single small mat can take 60–100 hours to complete and only a handful of women in Pag are still able to work the most complex 18th-century patterns. The museum, opened in 2010 in an elegantly restored 15th-century town palace, displays over 200 pieces of lace including several stunning ecclesiastical vestments made for Croatian churches, personal wedding veils belonging to identified Pag women of the 19th century, and everyday domestic pieces showing how the craft was universally practised throughout the town. Most days one of the town's registered lace-maker 'keepers' demonstrates her work in person and answers questions in Croatian or heavily-accented English — she is not on a schedule, so this is a genuine encounter. The museum shop sells authentic pieces with certificates of provenance from small €30 medallions to €4,000 collector items.