Ajaccio

Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio in 1769, months after Corsica passed from Genoa to France, and the family house on the Rue Saint-Charles is kept as a museum with furniture and family effects. The stronger collection is the Musee Fesch, assembled by Napoleon's uncle Cardinal Joseph Fesch, who bought Italian paintings on a scale few private collectors have matched; what survives here is the largest holding of Italian art in France outside the Louvre, with Botticelli, Titian, Bellini and Veronese. The old town is Genoese in plan, the citadel closed to the public for years, and the gulf opens west towards the Sanguinaires islands.

History

Ajaccio was already the seat of a diocese mentioned by Pope Gregory the Great in 591, and its name first appears for certain in a letter of 601 urging that Aléria and Adjacium not be left without bishops; the early town stood further north than the later one, around the present quarters of Castel Vecchio and Sainte-Lucie, and finds of Roman ships and early Christian remains suggest it was larger than once thought. The medieval town declined, and it began to prosper again after the Genoese built a citadel to the south in 1492; after the Corsican Republic was declared in 1755 the Genoese kept Ajaccio and other citadels until the French took control of the island. Napoleon Bonaparte was born here in 1769, and his family home, the Maison Bonaparte, is now a museum (Wikipedia, Ajaccio).

What you'll find

• The Musee Fesch - the largest Italian painting collection in France after the Louvre.
• Maison Bonaparte - Napoleon's birthplace with family furniture.
• The Genoese old town - narrow lanes and ochre facades by the port.
• The gulf - a wide bay opening west to the Sanguinaires.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the Fesch closes Tuesdays and reduces in winter. Napoleon's birthday on 15 August brings a large celebration and crowds.

What to expect

The citadel has long been closed to visitors. Maison Bonaparte is small and busy. The city is a working port and ordinary away from the old quarter.

Nearby

The Sanguinaires lie at the gulf mouth; Filitosa is south.

Key facts