Ajaccio
Ajaccio is Corsica's most open-minded and welcoming town. In contrast to Bastia it radiates a Mediterranean flair similar to the metropolises of the Cote d'Azur.
History
Even though today Ajaccio is, with 58 000 citizens, Corsica's largest town and its administrative center, it didn't play an important part in the island's history. Its beginnings go back to a roman settlement named Adiacum. Ajaccio was officially mentioned for the first time in the 6th century by Pope Gregor I. and remains of a basilica in the northeastern part of town show evidence of early Christian activity.
The modern Ajaccio originates from a citadel in 1492. In the beginning, only Ligurian and Genoese aristocrats used to live here. It was the French who in 1553 opened the town for Corsicans and strengthened the fortress. But only a few years later, Genoa reclaimed Ajaccio, welcomed by its citizens. This attitude influenced politics of the town for the following centuries and meant that Ajaccio, the same as Calvi, was not conquered in the independence war under Pasquale Paoli.
Napoleon, Ajaccio's Most Famous Son
Even though Napoleon didn't care much about the Corsicans except for his own family, Ajaccio's citizens have a special liking for their most famous son. Born here in 1769, Napoleon is omnipresent in town: three heroic monuments, a Napoleon museum, his birth house and a Napoleon grotto commemorate the great Corsican. Furthermore, there are numerous squares and streets named after the emperor and his family members.
Sights of Interest
One of the outstanding sights is the cathedral Notre-Dame-de-la-Misericorde, an imposing construction built in the Renaissance between 1587 and 1593. The enormous dome and cross shaped outline of the building remind of Byzantine churches.
One of the most beautiful collections of Italian paintings from the 14th to 18th century is on display in the Musée Fesch. Napoleon's uncle was an admirer of the fine arts and passed most of his considerable collection on to the town of Ajaccio.