Monument to the Pag Salt Worker: Collector of White Gold

The statue completes the space between the Katine Bridge and the historic Salt Magazines, which now house the permanent Saltworks Exhibition.

The figure was erected in May 2021 to commemorate the thousand-year-long tradition of salt production that defined the town and made Pag famous far and wide. The Solar is quickly becoming a new, powerful symbol of Pag.

The Stooped Worker

The sculpture depicts a salt harvester working on the salt pools (soline). It captures the act of performing the most demanding job in the saltworks, known as žgribanje or nagribanje.

Salt harvesting, which usually took place in August, involved three main tasks: nagribanje (separating the salt from the hard clay base of the pool), žgribanje (raking the salt into a pile), and utovar (loading the salt).

These jobs were considered the toughest in the saltworks. Workers labored outdoors under the sweltering heat with no shelter or shade. Many started before dawn to finish the main work before noon when the heat was almost unbearable. Loading the salt (filling the rail wagons or large wheelbarrows) was reserved for the younger, strongest men. Despite the common injury of bloody blisters caused by the specific shoveling technique, great solidarity existed among the workers. Up to 500 seasonal workers were employed during the salt-gathering season.

The tradition of nagribanje and žgribanje ended after a new salt production facility was built in the Svilno area (about 4 km south of the old site). This marked the end of the traditional pool-based method; today, salt is produced by heating the brine.

Salt-Green Patina

In its short time on the waterfront, the Solar has become a major tourist attraction. Visitors photograph the statue, and it serves as a spot for relaxation, especially in the afternoon.

Thanks to the strong Bora winds and the huge amounts of salty sea spray deposited on the bronze, the statue quickly developed a beautiful, greenish patina. While this patina is normal for bronze sculptures, it typically takes five to ten years to form away from the sea. In Pag’s case, the corrosive sea foam achieved the effect in just nine months, making the statue look far older and more established.

The monument’s author, the acclaimed academic sculptor Tomislav Kršnjavi, is also known for his statue of the “Pag Lace Maker,” which was installed in Dominikanski Trg in 2010. The Solar was cast at the Ujević Foundry in Zagreb.