After our stay-cation spring breaks last year I was determined to get out of town this year. One major hiccup was that the kids had different breaks, one the week before and one the week after Easter. Sadly, My Boy got another stay-cation break with a couple of day trips, including a jaunt to Ostia for a seafood lunch, and time to sleep, relax, and work on his big spring term papers. We decided that My Boy was old enough to go solo at home for a few days and planned a girls trip with my sister-in-law who was in Europe for a visit with her husband's family. In January we agreed on Corsica. My SIL is a master at finding great places to stay and we had fantastic time. She took the ferry from near Marseille and we met in Ajacco on the south west side of the island. It was so nice to see and smell the water. I didn't realize that I had missed it until we were there. In late afternoon sun the water color was stunning. I kept wondering what color paint I would use if I ever go around to painting it. I'm thinking phthalo blue (green shade) would be in the mix.
The next day we headed through the hills to our next stop in Bonifacio. I hadn't read much about Corsica before we arrived. It is much more mountainous and green than I had expected. I expected dry rocky almost desert terrain, but what we found was stunning. We stopped in Prugna for a few photos and got side tracked with a conversation with a woman who lives in the village. I think she was ready to adopt us all.
Our lunch stop included a visit to Filitosa, a prehistoric archeological site. The site was discovered in 1946 and excavation began about 10 years later. During early excavations some of the stones were moved from their original spots. Later excavations have been more careful to preserve the entire story. Excavations are ongoing. A team of archeologists was working while we were there.
The site was continuously inhabited from about 9000 BC until the 3rd century BC when the Romans arrived. On the hill tops there are structures, called torre (tower in Italian), with various rooms. These structures date from around 1200 BC. They are on top of hills so they could have been defensive or religious. It isn't really clear. Hill top towns were common in Bronze Age Europe.
The site is full of menhirs, large upright blocks of granite. Many have carved human forms with armor and weapons like swords and daggers. The menhirs date from as early as the 4th millennium BC with later carvings added during the Bronze Age, around 1200 BC. Swords were invented during this period, the first tool exclusively used for fighting.
I first heard the word menhir from Asterix and Obelix and still associate it with the comic. Although, these looked quite different from the stones Obelix carried around.
One thing we noticed on our way were the cemeteries with above ground mausoleum instead of burial plots. They were old and new, in the mountains and on the rocky coast, and in all shapes. It makes sense in an area built on granite. It is easier to built up than dig down.
Our place in Bonifacio showed my Sister-in-Law's skill at finding great places. We were up in the old town. It was a cute little apartment with spectacular views. The front overlooked the port and the back, the narrow Medieval street. The upper old town is maybe 200 meters by 800 meters, just a couple of streets wide and definitely not built for cars, although they do squeeze in.
Our view from the front
Back street view
Hotel la Genovese
Our apartment's windows are on the top floor in the pop-out
One of many steep staircase entrances
Église Saint-Dominique
Even though the island has been inhabited for thousands of years, including by Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans, the history in the guide book focused on the Medieval time period. During this time control bounced around from the city-state of Pisa, to the kingdom of Aragon, France, and Genoa. The flags of Corsica and Sardenia feature the Moor's head, possibly representing the severed head of a Moorish prince defeated by the King of Aragon. Many of the Medieval towns and watch towers were built during the Genoese period. Corsica was briefly independent in the mid 1700's, ceded to France in 1769, declared independence in 1790 with the help of England, before finally becoming part of France again 6 years later, thanks to Napoleon, the island's most famous son. It remains part of France, but there is a vocal independence movement you can see in the graffiti. Because of the long history of Pisan and Genoese control, the Corsican culture and language are closely tied to Northern Italy.
Cemetery of Bonifacio
View of the upper old town from the port.
The next day we drove north through the rainy mountains. It was not the Mediterranean sun usually associated with Corsica, but it was beautiful. We stopped for lunch in Corte before heading to Bastia, our last stop. Corte was once the capital city and has a central citadel, one of seven on the island. We saw it from below and got close before we were chased away by the rain and headed to Bastia.
We had one rainy night in Bastia and the next morning before catching the plane back home. There are ferries that go from Corsica to Italy. By the time you take the train from Rome to the ferry and the ferry to the island it is a much longer trip. So we flew through Paris instead, a longer distance, but much faster.
Bastia is primarily a port city. The main point of interest is the citadel built by the Genoese in the 14th century. It is the small walled fortress overlooking the sea and includes the governor's palace and a church. There are picturesque lookout points and towers that look like chess pieces.
St Mary's church was interesting to me because it is so different from the churches we see in Rome. The art work, architecture, and general feel of the place is quite different. You can see the Medieval framework and Baroque gilding. The artwork was typical of the period, but not by the best artists of the time. You definitely get the feel that it was cobbled together over centuries far from the center of things.
The doors are open and the locals come in to get out of the rain.
We were in Bastia on a grey day, but enjoyed our peak into the city. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip. The pace was relaxed and the company delightful. Corsica is a place with spectacular natural beauty and lot of opportunities for outdoor adventure. We enjoyed the sites and the boulangeries. It was a lovely taste of Corsica.
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