Original scientific paper

Te late antiquity fortification on the location of St. George’s Church above Pag. An insight into archaeological investigation of the beginnings of the town of Pag

Željko Tomičić orcid.org/0000-0002-6780-1887

Abstract

In this paper, marking the impressive anniversary of the founding of the medieval town of Pag, the author presents the results of his own field research on the island of Pag, in the immediate vicinity of the town. After a detailed survey carried out in 1989, the dominant location with the ruins of the small pre-Romanesque St. George’s Church, just above the town of Pag, has been recognized as a unique example of a Late Antiquity fortification. The author takes a look at the remains of the preserved fortification, including traces of defense walls and towers and appertaining premises. Based on the finds of the East Mediterranean ceramics and remains of the architecture discovered there, the author is convinced that a castron was founded there in the epoch of Emperor Justinian I (527 – 565 AD), during the wars with the Ostrogothic Kingdom in the coastal region and on the islands of the Eastern Adriatic. The discovery of a Late Antiquity fortification can be seen as a link – missing until recently – that the author is trying to fit in the chain of the established facts about the beginnings of the town of Pag.

Keywords

Late Antiquity; island of Pag; St. George’s Church; castron; Justinian epoch; towers; walls; maritime limes

Hrčak ID:

162411

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/162411

Publication date:

10.5.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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