Ajaccio city tour.
Ajaccio is the city where Napoleon was born. You can’t walk a hundred metres here without encountering an image of Bonaparte, be it a pedestal, an advertising poster or a souvenir shop. In 1943, the people of Ajaccio rose up against the Nazi occupiers and the city became the first in France to be liberated from the Germans. Since then Ajaccio has developed quite rapidly, its population has grown steadily, and today Ajaccio is the capital and in every sense the main city of Corsica.
Not far from Ajaccio are the extremely picturesque, especially at sunset, “Bloody Islands”.
At the time of Pope Gregory the Great there were references to the Latin city of Ajax, which stood a few kilometres from the present location of Ajaccio. At its present location, the city was laid out and founded at the end of the XV century. Corsicans could not live in the city as it belonged to the Genoese Republic. Ajaccio was incorporated into France only in 1768. On 15 August 1769, as you already know, Napoleon was born here. He lived in Ajaccio for only 9 years, but his life became a part of the city’s history for ever.
The jewel of Ajaccio that attracts travellers from all over the world is the Maison Bonaparte, located in the old quarter of the city. It is the same house where the legendary Napoleon was born and spent his childhood.
The Cathedral of Sainte-Marie is an amazing temple where the marble font in which Napoleon was baptised still stands. One of the cathedral’s chapels is decorated with E. Delacroix’s “Virgin with a Sacred Heart” (1798-1863).
Piazza Laetitia, named in honour of Napoleon’s mother, is marked by a bust of the Corsican emperor.
The palace of Cardinal Fesch, Napoleon Bonaparte’s uncle, is decorated with a collection of Italian paintings from the 15th to 16th centuries, Among the paintings are works by Botticelli, Lorenzo di Credi, Veronese’s “Leda” and Titian’s “Man with a Glove”.
Beyond the palace is the peaceful Emperor’s Chapel, built by Napoleon III especially for the burial of the remains of the Bonaparte family.
You can see 150 species of turtles in Vero’s unusual Cupulatta Park. It is 21km north-east of the N193 motorway and open from April to October.
See the colourful Sunday market on the seafront, where you should buy Brocciu goat’s cheese as a souvenir from Ajaccio.
For a good catch, visit the church of St Erasmus, a visit to which guarantees a fruitful fishing trip.
Find a rare vinyl record on the shelves of the large Musica shop.
