Sights in Corsica
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Aiguilles de Bavella
The Col de Bavella (Bavella Pass) is overlooked by the imposing silhouette of one of the most striking and beautiful landscape features in the south of Corsica: the sharp points of Aiguilles de Bavella, also called the Bavella Needles. If you're lucky you may spot a few of the mouflons (wild mountain sheep) that sashay around the area.
The peaks, which rise to a height of more than 1600m (5250ft) and which are also known as the Cornes d'Asinao (Asinao Horns), are jagged points whose colour ranges from ochre to golden depending on the position of the sun in the sky. Behind these stone 'needles' looms the profile of Monte Incudine (2134m/7000ft), which the GR20 links to the…
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Palais Fesch – Musée des Beaux-Arts
One of the island’s must-sees, this superb museum reopened in 2010 after extensive renovation works. Established by Napoléon’s uncle, it has France’s largest collection of Italian paintings outside the Louvre. Mostly the works of minor or anonymous 14th- to 19th-century artists, there are also canvases by Titian, Fra Bartolomeo, Veronese, Botticelli and Bellini. Look out for La Vierge à l’Enfant Soutenu par un Ange (Mother and Child Supported by an Angel), one of Botticelli’s masterpieces. Portrait de l’Homme au Gant (Portrait of the Gloved Man) by Titian matches another in the Louvre. The museum also houses temporary exhibitions. Within the Chapelle Impéria…
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Jardin Romieu
From the south side of the Vieux Port, steps lead up to the Jardin Romieu, a pleasant expanse of green that clings to the hillside for dear life. The even steeper steps and tunnel of the rampe St-Charles bring you through the defensive walls of the citadel to place du Donjon, at its heart.
Overlooking this cobbled square is the Palais des Gouverneurs (Governors' Palace), long closed to the public and earmarked - as it has been for many years - as the venue for the Musée d'Ethnographie Corse, so long in gestation. This citadel fortress, built in 1530, was the seat of the Genoese governor of Corsica for over two centuries. The Terra Nova quarter, many of its buildings recen…
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Les Calanques de Piana
Flaming a fiery red in the sunlight, the giant granite cliffs and outcrops of Les Calanques de Piana (E Calanche in Corsican) are a spectacular landscape of red granite cliffs and spiky outcrops, carved into bizarre shapes by the forces of wind and water.
The multicoloured spires tower 300m above the deep-blue waters of the sea below and are beautifully contrasted by the green foliage of pine and chestnut forests. Though dazzling from the road, you have to take to one of the clifftop walking trails to truly appreciate the views.
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Oratoire de la Confrérie St-Antoine
Wander over to the place d'Armes and take a little street to the left to come to the Oratoire de la Confrérie St-Antoine , a charitable institution that has been active in Corsica since the 14th century. Behind the façade, which features a primitive slate lintel depicting the abbot St Antoine, are walls painted with 15th- and 16th-century frescoes (some, alas, severely timeworn).
On the north wall, an ivory Christ attributed to the Florentine sculptor Jacopo d'Antonio Tati, known as Le Sansevino.
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Municipal Library
In the left wing of the Musée Fesch and entered via rue du Cardinal Fesch, Ajaccio's Municipal Library , built in 1868, merits a browse. The two lions guarding the entrance (yet another donation by Cardinal Fesch) are modelled on the beasts that stand watch over the tomb of Pope Clement XIII at St Peter's in Rome. Inside, within the 30m-long reading room, uniform leather-bound volumes stretching to the ceiling, wooden ladders and an 18m-long central table speak of serious-minded research.
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Mémorial du Passé Bonifacien
From the marina, the atmospheric Montée St-Roch leads to the citadel via Porte de Gênes (Genoa Gate; pedestrian access only). This gate was the only way of getting into the citadel until the Porte de France was built in 1854. To the north is the Bastion de l'Étendard, a remnant of the fortifications built in the aftermath of the siege in 1553. It is home to the Mémorial du Passé Bonifacien , where various episodes in the town's history have been re-created.
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Église Ste-Marie Majeure
The unmissable Église Ste-Marie Majeure was built by the Pisans and was completed in the 14th century. Although it has been modified on numerous occasions and has gradually lost its original style, it retains its main feature, the loggia, under the arches of which the notables of the town used to gather. Opposite it is the old cistern, in which the town formerly collected rainwater from the many aqueducts running above the streets of the vieille ville.
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Musée National de la Maison Bonaparte
Napoléon spent his first nine years in this house. Ransacked by Corsican nationalists in 1793, requisitioned by English troops from 1794 to 1796, and eventually rebuilt by Napoléon’s mother, the house became a place of pilgrimage for French revolutionaries, and visitors are still encouraged to observe suitably hushed tones. It hosts memorabilia of the emperor and his siblings, including a glass medallion containing a lock of his hair. It’s closed Monday mornings.
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Musée a Bandera
Tucked away on a little side street, this quirky little museum explores Corsican history up to WWII. Among the highlights are a diorama of the 1769 battle of Ponte Novo that confirmed French conquest of the island, a model of the port of Ajaccio as it was in the same period, and a proclamation by Gilbert Elliot, viceroy of the shortlived Anglo-Corsican kingdom (1794–96). There are also a few worthy panels describing the role of women in Corsican society.
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Museu di a Corsica
The Museu di a Corsica is a definite must-see for anyone interested in Corsica’s culture. It houses an outstanding exhibition on Corsican traditi ons, crafts, agriculture and anthropology. The building has two main galleries, with a third space allocated to temporary exhibitions. The museum is housed inside the former barracks and administrative buildings, which previously served as a WWII prison and a French Foreign Legion base.
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Bonifacio Citadel
The citadel (often referred to as Haute Ville, upper town) is the main town centre. Set on the cliff-top promontory 70m above the harbour, the northern side overlooks Bonifacio Sound, while the southern ramparts give you dreamy views of Sardinia. On all sides, white limestone cliffs drop vertically and dramatically into the sea.
Within the clifftop citadel is a charming maze of alleyways with a distinct mediaeval feel.
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Pianu di Levie
Inland from Porto-Vecchio, the Alta Rocca region also musters up a handful of well-preserved megalithic remains. About 7km to the north of Levie, Pianu di Levie comprises two archaelogical sites, the castelli (castles) of Cucuruzzu and Capula, connected by an interpretive trail. Archaeologists believe they were erected during the Bronze Age, around 1200 BC.
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Hôtel de Ville
Next to Église Ste-Marie is the building that now houses the Hôtel de Ville , but which, in the 16th century, was the palace of the Genoese lieutenants. If you go through the gateway below this former palace, you will come out on the narrow streets of the Santa Anna district, which is the real jewel of the old town. Try to find the delightful impasse Carababa.
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Filitosa
The most important prehistoric site is Filitosa, northwest of Sartène, where a collection of extraordinary carved menhirs were discovered in 1946. The Filitosa menhirs are highly unusual: several have detailed faces, anatomical features (such as ribcages) and even swords and armour, suggesting that they may commemorate specific warriors or chieftains.
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Église Ste-Marie
The bell tower of Église Ste-Marie rises above place Porta, which is still sometimes called place de la Libération. It boasts a superb altarpiece of polychrome marble (formerly in the Couvent St-François) and canvasses of the Stations of the Cross dating from 1843. The chains and cross used during the Catenacciu procession are also on display.
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Vieux Port
Immediately south of Terra Vecchia is the Vieux Port (Old Port), Bastia’s most picturesque area, ringed by pastel-coloured tenements and buzzy brasseries, as well as the twin-towered Église St-Jean Baptiste. The best views of the harbour are from the hillside park of Jardin Romieu, reached via a twisting staircase from the waterfront.
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Église St-Dominique
To the west of the Montée St-Roch citadel is the Église St-Dominique, one of the few Gothic churches in Corsica. It houses an altarpiece made of polychrome marble that dates back to the mid-18th century, as well as reliquaries carried in processions through the town during a number of religious festivals.
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Musée du Capitellu
The Musée du Capitellu is a delightful little museum assembled by M. Paul Ottavi-Sampolo, its owner and curator. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the town's history through the eclectic paintings, porcelain, silverware and objets d'art, assembled over the years by one prominent Ajaccio family.
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Place St-Nicolas
Just back from the ferry terminal lies Place St-Nicolas. The beating heart of city life, this 19th-century square is lined with trees and cafes, and at the southern end, a bizarre statue of Napoleon Bonaparte depicted as a muscle-bound Roman emperor stands guard, ringed by a phalanx of palm trees.
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Escalier du Roi d’Aragon
From the citadel, the Escalier du Roi d’Aragon cuts down the southern cliff-face. Its 187 steps were supposedly carved in a single night by Aragonese troops during the siege of 1420, although the troops were rebuffed by retaliating Bonifacio residents once they reached the top.
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Gouvernail de la Corse
At the western tip of the peninsula, an underground passage dug by hand during WWII leads to the Gouvernail de la Corse, a rock about a dozen metres from the shore with a shape reminiscent of the rudder of a ship.
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Palais des Gouverneurs
One of the citadel’s landmarks, Palais des Gouverneurs houses Musée d’Histoire de Bastia (04 95 31 09 12; admission €5; Tue-Sun 10am-6pm), which provides an overview of the history of the city.
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Chapelle de l’Immaculée Conception
Don’t miss the baroque Chapelle de l’Immaculée Conception, with its elaborately painted barrel-vaulted ceiling; it briefly served as the seat of the short-lived Anglo-Corsican parliament in 1795.
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Salon Napoléonien
Fans of Napoléon will make a beeline for this museum on the 1st floor of the Hôtel de Ville. It exhibits Napoléonic medals, portraits and busts, as well as a fabulously frescoed ceiling of Napoléon and entourage.
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