Terra Vecchia

Top choice in Bastia


Criss-crossed by narrow lanes, Terra Vecchia is Bastia’s heart and soul. Shady place de l’Hôtel de Ville hosts a lively morning market on Saturday and Sunday. One block west, baroque Chapelle de l’Immaculée Conception, with its elaborately painted barrel-vaulted ceiling, served as the seat of the short-lived Anglo-Corsican parliament in 1795. Further north, Chapelle St-Roch holds an 18th-century organ and trompe l’œil roof.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Bastia attractions

1. Chapelle de l’Immaculée Conception

0.06 MILES

Notable for its elaborately painted barrel-vaulted ceiling, the baroque Chapelle de l’Immaculée Conception served in 1795 as the seat of the short-lived…

2. Chapelle St-Roch

0.07 MILES

The Chapelle St-Roch is known for its 18th-century organ and trompe l’œil roof.

3. Église St-Jean Baptiste

0.07 MILES

The dramatic twin-towered church of John the Baptist soars majestically above the Vieux Port waterfront. Viewed from the citadel above, it’s the most…

4. Vieux Port

0.12 MILES

Bastia’s Vieux Port is ringed by precariously tall, pastel-coloured tenements and buzzy brasseries, and overlooked by the twin-towered Église St-Jean…

6. Place St-Nicolas

0.23 MILES

The 19th-century place St-Nicolas, an enormous paved square that sprawls from the ferry port towards the old harbour, is the focus of the everyday life of…

7. Jardin Romieu

0.25 MILES

Climbing the hillside below the mighty walls of the citadel, and threaded through by interlacing paths and stairways, this wooded park makes a scenic…

8. Musée de Bastia

0.28 MILES

Occupying the former palace of Bastia’s Genoese governors, set into the formidable walls of the citadel, this museum retraces the city’s history from its…