Fact-checked
The châteaux of Corse in the Index — 3 so far, each fact-checked against the historical record. Back to the map.
13th–16th centuries · Genoese citadel
Genoa's proud bastion on the Balagne coast — 'Civitas Calvi semper fidelis' is still carved over the gate. Behind its ramparts above the bay, Calvi nurses two legends: a disputed claim to be Columbus's birthplace, and the certain fact that Nelson lost the sight of his right eye besieging it in 1794.
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9th century origins; Genoese works 12th–16th c. · Clifftop citadel
A city on a knife-edge: Bonifacio's citadel rides seventy metres of sheer white limestone above the strait to Sardinia, its houses overhanging the void. Besieged by Alfonso V of Aragon in 1420 — the rock-cut 'Staircase of the King of Aragon' plunges to the sea — it is the most dramatic fortified site in Corsica.
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1419 (eagle's nest); enlarged 18th–19th c. · Mountain citadel
Corsica's only inland citadel, an eagle's nest on a rock spur where the Restonica meets the Tavignano — and the capital of Pasquale Paoli's independent Corsican Republic (1755–1769), which gave Europe one of its first Enlightenment constitutions. Today it houses the Museum of Corsica.
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