Lucciana - Santa-Maria-Assunta

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, just like neighbouring Sardinia, under the influence of the Republic of Pisa, later it belonged to Genua for centuries. In 1729 the Corsican fight for independence from Genoa began. After 26 years of struggle the independent Corsican Republic was proclaimed in 1755, but in 1769, when the island was conquered by France.

The church, often named "La Canonica" is located in a plain near the coast. The ancient city of Mariana existed here, founded by Roman statesman Gaius Marius in 93 BC as a veteran colony. Where the church is now was the center of Mariana. Christianity arrived early and already in the 5th century the diocese of Mariana was established. The early Christian church was destroyed by Vandals around 440, the following church by Saracens within the 8th century. The cathedral "La Canonica" was erected in the 11th century, it got consecrated in 1119. The three nave basilica was the first church on the island built in the "Pisan style" of Romanesque architecture.

Prosper Mérimée visited the church and it was declared a "National Monument" just after his return from Corsica in 1886. Most of the many graffiti carved into the walls will have been "in situ" already, as the building had been unattended for many decades. Here are four of them.



Lucciana,
Mariana,
"Gaius Marius",
"veteran colony",
"Santa-Maria-Assunta",
"La Canonica",
"Pisan style",
"carved graffiti",
Corsica,
Corse,
Korsika,
"Haute-Corse",
2B,
France