Calvi - La Citadelle

The island of Corsica is one of the 18 regions of France. It was colonized the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Etruscans and the Romans. After the Roman empire collapsed, Corsica got invaded by the Vandals and the Ostrogoths. For a short while the island belonged to the Byzantine Empire, then the Franks granted the island to the Pope, in the early 11th century Pisa and Genoa together freed the island from the threat of Arab invasion. The island came under the influence of the Republic of Pisa, later it belonged to Genua for centuries. In 1755 after a long fight for independence from Genoa the independent Corsican Republic was proclaimed, but in 1769, when the island was conquered by France. As the areas near the coast over centuries have been threatened by attacks and raids of pirates many old hamlets and dwellings are wide inland, high in the mountains. So most of the old churches are in the mountains and some of them are hard to find.
After many Saracen raids Corsica was awarded by the Pope to Pisa within the 11th century. Disputes between Pisa and the Republic of Genoa over the possession of the island followed. After the people of Calvi had asked Genoa for support against the local nobility in 1278, who extended and fortified the citadel and granted the Calvesern priviliges. Even during the independence battles Calvi was loyal to Genoa what explains the motto "Civitas Calvi semper fidelis".

During the war with Revolutionary France, British forces under Admiral Nelson captured the city in a siege. It was during the bombardment of Calvi in 1793 that Nelson sustained the injury that cost him his eye.

Calvi is one of many cities claiming to be the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. It is claimed that he was born inside this citadel and not in Italy, Spain or Portugal,