Cambia - Santa Maria

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.

The 13th century chapel Santa Maria is one of them. It is located completely isolated in a dense forest, a steep path up from the road. The mystic place was a hermitage once. Just next to the chapel, in front of the ruins of the hermitage stands the Santa Maria statue-menhir ( aka "Corsoli Menhir", "Petra Frisgiata menhir"). It was discovered in 1893. The slim menhir (2.30 m high) has a carved head and got "christianised" by carving a cross on the chest. Many legends developed around this menhir, one tells this is a punished lazy woman who neglected to attend the church, another tells about a girl who digged into a grave with a stick. Nearby is the "Petra Frisgiata", a large stone with prehistoric geometric carvings.