Situated in a warm cove between the groves of pine, it maintained the archaic Mediterranean ambience with the surroundings decorated with marvellous beaches: Zrce, one of the most beautiful Adriatic beaches, Caska, Strasko, Trincel, etc. Novalja has become an important tourist centre. Its offer includes hotels, campsites, modern houses, the residential and tourist resort Gajac, sports and recreational facilities (sports centre within the campsite Strasko), gastronomic delicacies (the cheese of Pag, lamb, domestic wine), cultural events - attractive local dance, valuable heritage, excursions by boat.
NOVALJA, a town and port in the bay of the same name, situated at the south-western coast of the island of Pag; population 1,912. The town includes the former hamlets Sveti Ante (St. Anthony) and Spital. In the Roman times (the ruins of the Roman aqueduct) there was a town called Cissa (the present hamlet of Caska) in the surroundings of Novalja. Novalja is a town of a compact coastal type which expanded considerably in the recent times. Chief occupations include farming, viniculture, livestock breeding, fishing and tourism. The port of Novalja is well protected from the winds of the first and second quadrants; the westerly and north-westerly winds are extremely strong. When entering the port, larger vessels have to beware of the shallows (8.5 to 9.8 m) 1.8 southwest of Cape Vrtlic. The pier in the port provides shelter to smaller vessels; there is a 98-m long embankment made of rocks. Larger vessels can anchor at the entrance into the port off the north-eastern coast, and smaller vessels and yachts in the centre of the port, at a depth between 5 and 8 m. Situated on the regional road (29) running through the whole island.
Novalja developed on the site of the ancient settlement Novalia which represented the southern port of the Roman settlement Cissa (today Caska). From the Roman times parts of the aqueduct, several inscriptions and architectural plastic forms have been preserved. In the early Christian times there was a large basilica urbana in the centre of the town, with a semicircular apse and mosaics (remains of architecture, plastic forms, inscriptions). In 1971 two decorated reliquaries were found there: a bronze one from the 4th century and a silver one, from a later period. On the same place the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Gothic style was erected, annexed in the Baroque period, which holds the painting of Our Lady with Childfrom the 16th century. The present parish church of St. Catherine was built in 1906.
