On the third biggest island of the western basin of the Mediterranean Sea, the French tricolor waves in the wind. The 183km long and 83km wide Corsica lies 170km from the mainland, 80kkm from the Italian coast and only 12km from Sardinia. The most southerly settlement of the island is Bonifacio. According to the famous Corsican borne French poet, Paul Valery, this is the most scenic town of the island. His opinion is shared by millions of tourists who go on pilgrimage to this island even every year. In Italian, the place which got its name from the margrave Bonifaz of Tuscany in 828, is pronounced Bonifacio and in French Bonifacio. The fortress and together with it the town also, later fell under Genoan, Pisan, French and then Turkish rule.
The harbor stretches along the side of a 1.5km long bay. The bay separated from the sea by a 60m high cliff. Its strategic importance is further enhanced by this citadel built on the cliff and the narrow entrance of the bay. The town endured many sieges and they collected rainwater in huge cisterns so even during the siege, they were not in want. Even the flying buttresses of the famous Santa Maria Majore serve to collect water in the cisterns carved in the rock under the hull. The Genoa gate was the only entrance to the upper town. Today, we can find here the municipal history museum. The 187 steps named after the king of Aragon was allegedly carved into the rock by the besiegers but a local woman Margarita Bobia discovered them so the attack failed.
We can find two monuments in the upper town. World War I took 40000 victims on the island practically every 5th Corsican died in this catastrophe. The other monument is the Legionne de Strange or the French foreign legion. From 1897, they sacrificed their lives in several places and for several causes. The monument was transported here from Uran. In the old town, barracks and three churches are reminiscent of the past. The 13th century Romanesque church has been rebuilt many times. Its peculiarity is the crescent shaped arcade loggia resting on a wooden roofed frame. The octagonal belfry has not retained its original form and the interior is also eclectic. The narrow alleys leading through the tall medieval houses are always dim and chilly. The wash is put out to dry on lines and one can find several handicraft shops on the ground floor.
The narrow houses are decorated with coats of arms. It’s as if the wheel of time had been turned back. Jojef Palvi wrote, the atmosphere of timelessness is more real. We cannot see trees in this town. It’s all rocks and stones. The light is reflected from the limestone cliffs and white washed houses, blinding and on two sides, there’s the sea, the azure of the Mediterranean sung of so many times and still seeming unbelievable. The southern side of the harbor is the port for sailing and motorboats and this is where the cruise ships depart from also. The marina is still under the protection of St. Erasmus. On June 2nd, a spectacular procession is held in his honor. A month later, the patron saint of sea crayfish fishers is celebrated similarly.
Those who set sail on board a ship to the coastal waters of Bonifacio will understand why Corsica is called the island of beauty. Even the Greeks of the antiquity gave it the attribute kalste or beautiful. The giant mountain besieged by waves is the daughter of the Alps, a range of high peaks which set its foot so enormously in the sea with its narrow bays, promontories and gorges, this is Corsica. It’s a raw and free land which has life so powerful and so unique that nobody could leave their handprint permanently and its sons never served other than the choice of their hearts. These are the thoughts of 20th century French writer, Octave Aubry.
During the one hour cruise, we can look back to the 60 to 90m high cliffs in the citadel. They will show us the St. Anthony cave which resembles Napoleon’s hat, the rock nicknamed the rudder of Corsica, the sandgrain stone and of course, the local twin to the blue cave of Capri, the Saragonato Cave. The mountain mass is bordered by a 1000km of zigzagging coast in which only 30m from the sea, 2000m high mountains rise to the sky. Their tops are covered by snow until June when the sea already attracts bathers. The rivers rushing down from the mountains, deep and steep walled valleys and canyons and reaching flat areas, they form flood plains with their sluggish currents. At their estuaries, great beaches have been created. They’re places where the bays of the cliffs are filled in with rough grain sand and at some places with fine white sand.
Transparent shallow water glitters in the crescent bays. Gently sloping dunes, attractive lagoons, steep gray or red cliffs, the landscape is amazing whether we see it from the coast or from the sea. As a young officer, Napoleon was the commander of the civil guard of Bonifacio. It was he who said that even before laying our eyes on Corsica, we can smell its scent. Half of the island is still ruled by the Macchia. The tall scrub jungle is fragrant even in itself but this is further enhanced by the scent of spices and flowers running riot. The myrtle, the lavender, the sage, the thyme and the rosemary grow wild here and only botanists could list what else. The locals also use the wild herbs and spices. In the impenetrable thickness of the Macchia, flocks of rabbits, turtles, wild birds and butterflies live. On the higher cliffs, mooflan graze on the scarce vegetation of the rocks.
The island also serves as a resting place for birds migrating from Europe to Africa. Corsica is visited by a growing number of tourists who come here to fish or hunt. The locals try to protect their treasures more and more consciously. They carefully change the fish stock of the rivers and they also limit the quantity that can be caught. 1/3 of the island has been declared a nature reserve and the rest of the areas also enjoy some level of protection.
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