It probably meant 'opposite' (opačná in modern Czech), and probably referred to its location on the shady slopes, away from the sun.

The first written mention of Nová Paka is from 1357 with regard to the installation of new vicar to the Church of Saint Nicholas.

In 1643, during the Thirty Years' War, the town was pillaged by the Swedish army.

[4] Thanks to the legend of finding a miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary, the Minim monastery was established in the second half of the 17th century.

The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built in 1709–1724 and made Nová Paka a pilgrimage site.

The wooden Greek Catholic Church of the Transfiguration of Jesus and Saint Nicholas was transferred from Carpathian Ruthenia in 1930.