Part 11

The best resting-places on this road are Zicavo, 39 m. S.E. from Ajaccio, from which it is approached by a diligence; and the pleasant village of Ghisoni, where there is a very fair inn. At Vivario there is the Hotel Voyageurs. Guides and carriages should be hired either at Sartene or Vivario, 20 frs. per day.

Ghisoni to Ghisonaccia.

18 m. S.E. Maps, pp. 1 and 27.

By the Forest road No. 5, cut for nearly 11 m. in the face of the steep cliffs which enclose the Orbo. As this road in all the dangerous parts is hardly 11 ft. wide, it is necessary to ascertain before starting in a vehicle, the position of the carts conveying the logs, and to arrange accordingly.

The road descends from Ghisoni to the Pont de Regolo, 2077 ft., where it crosses the Casapietrone, and then follows the course of the Fium Orbo, crosses the Ruello Bridge 1450 ft., and enters the Salto della Sposata 4-1/2 m. from Ghisoni, where the river flows in a narrow bed between vertical precipices, some more than 1200 ft. high.

The road, chiselled out of these cliffs, passes under 3 great portals. From the third is seen, through the great cleft in the rock of Inzecca, the sea at Aleria.

After this the defile opens up to close again between serpentine cliffs. It then crosses the 2 Ponts de Parabuja and the viaduct de l'Inzecca, and reaches the entrance to the Passage de l'Inzecca, 7 m. from Ghisoni, 985 ft. above the sea, where the road is cut through great serpentine rocks. This is the most difficult part for the waggons to pass. Map, p. 27.

The plain now widens, and 8 m. from Ghisoni a branch road leads to Vezzani.

Nine and a quarter miles from Ghisoni is the Col S. Antoine, 355 ft., and 8-3/4 m. farther is Ghisonaccia, p. 32.

Sartene to Bonifacio.

33 miles south-east, by diligence; time, 6 hours.

miles from SARTENE miles to BONIFACIO

{ }{33} SARTENE. The road winds its way through great blocks of granite scattered on a plain studded with shrubby specimens of the ilex, towards the shore of the Golfo di Roccapina, with a fantastically shaped rock called il Leone Coronato. East from the gulf the road passes the village of Pianottoli, 21 m. from Sartene, almost due south from the singular mountain l'Uomo di Cagna, 3980 ft.; then the bridge across the Figari at the head of the Gulf of Figari, 23 m.; the Col de la Testa or Scopeto, 225 ft., 24 m.; and the bridge across the Ventilegni, 27 m. from Sartene, and 6 from Bonifacio.

{33} BONIFACIO, pop. 4000. H. du Nord; France in the high town. Diligences leave daily for Bastia, Sartene, and Ajaccio. A steamer arrives every Saturday from Ajaccio and returns on the Monday. Bonifacio was founded in 833 by the Tuscan marquis whose name it bears, to protect this part of the island against the piratical incursions of the Saracens. The high town is built on the top of a limestone rock rising vertically from the sea. The low town occupies one side of the fine natural dock, hemmed in by perpendicular cliffs with an opening of only 328 yards towards the sea. From the steamboat wharf a broad paved series of steps leads up to the high town, entering it through the Porte Vieille. In the old house fronting this Porte or gateway, Charles V., in 1541, stayed two days and a night on his return from his unsuccessful expedition against Algiers. Overtaken by a storm, he had taken refuge in the Gulf of Santa Manza. The door of the house, decorated with an arabesque on marble, is in the narrow side street. In the Place d'Armes are the church of San Domenico, built by the Templars, characterised by its octagonal tower with an embrasured termination; and the great tower "Torrione," part of the fortifications built by the marquis, and formerly the most important part of the citadel. Near this tower is the flight of steps "Redragon," cut in the rock by the Genoese, which descends by 202 steps to the sea. The small room over the gateway of the citadel, opposite the house of Charles V., was inhabited by Napoleon for nearly eight months. There are grand sea-views from the ramparts. The town consists of tall, dingy houses, and narrow, steep, and in most cases dirty streets. The promenade of Bonifacio is the small covered terrace before the church of Santa Maria. Here also is the public cistern.

Of the numerous caves which pierce the base of the rock of Bonifacio, the most remarkable one enters from the sea, 214 feet below the Place d'Armes, and extends to an unknown distance. It contains a freshwater lake, which rises and falls with the tide. A staircase with a vaulted roof and consisting of 337 steps leads down to this lake. The water is brought up to the surface by a force pump, is perfectly transparent, with a slight calcareous taste. In the high town there are 39 private and one public cistern, in which the rain water from the roofs is stored up. The low town has a well supplied from a stream by an aqueduct. The afternoon is the best time to visit the caves. A boat for one or party should not cost more than 5 frs. The finest, the Dragonetta, cannot be visited when the sea is rough.

On Monte Pertusato (the south extremity of Corsica), 2 miles S.E. from Bonifacio, is a lighthouse of the first order, 325 feet above the sea. The southern promontory is pierced by a cavern hung with stalactites.

Bonifacio to Bastia.

103 miles; diligence to Ghisonaccia, 50 m. N., the rest by rail.

miles from BONIFACIO miles to BASTIA

{ }{103} BONIFACIO. The diligence, after passing the Col Finocchio, 354 feet, 2-1/2 miles N. from Bonifacio, the Maison Francola, 7 miles, the bridge across the Stabiacco, 16 miles, and the Col Mattonara, 17-1/2 miles (whence the Route Forestiere, No. 11, ascends 14 miles west into the forest of the Ospedale), arrives in 3 hours at

{27}{76} PORTO-VECCHIO, pop. 2740. Hotel Amis. Surrounded by its old walls, and at the head of a beautiful gulf. The surrounding country is fertile, but unhealthy during the hot weather, on account of the miasma rising from the morasses and lagoons. To the N. of Porto, the mountains still approach near to the sea; but beyond Solenzara (where the diligence halts) 41-1/2 miles from Bonifacio, they recede and leave free those great undulating plains which characterise the eastern coast of Corsica--plains almost uninhabited and covered with heaths. From the north side of the Travo commences a series of large lakes swarming with fish and a kind of cockle. They are separated from the sea by long narrow sandbanks, like earthen break-waters. The malaria prevails from June to October, but even then only the night should be avoided in travelling along this coast. The road after passing by the hamlet of Favona, 33 m., arrives at

{45}{58} SOLENZARA. Whence a wheel road extends westwards into the forest of Bavella by the Col Bavella 18-1/2 m. S.W., and the Col Scalella, 22 m., 2982 ft. to Zonza, 24-1/2 m. from Solenzara; 4 m. farther is the village of S. Gavino di Carbini, 2292 ft., and other 2-1/2 m. the village of Levie; 30 m. S.W. from Solenzara, and 10-1/2 from Propriano is S. Lucia de Tallano, on the highroad to Aullene (see p. 27), and for continuation of this road to Propriano see p. 26.

The road to Bastia, after passing the Travo, 44 m., Vicchiseri, 46 m., and Casamozza, 48-1/2 m., arrives at the railway station of

{53}{50} GHISONACCIA, pop. 850. On the Fium Orbo, 36 m. S.E. from Corte. From this a department road of 4-1/2 m. leads to the hot sulphurous baths of Pietrapola, with a large hotel in a healthy situation.

From Ghisonaccia a carriage road extends N.W. to the villages of Poggio-di-Nazza, 9-1/2 m., and Lugo-di-Nazza, 11-1/2 m. From Ghisonaccia railway station a forest road extends 18 m. N.W. to Ghisoni, where it joins the high road between Sartene and Vivario (p. 29). The southern prolongation of this road leads to Zicavo, Petreto, Bicchisano, and Portopollo, on the Gulf of Valinco.

Forty-six m. from Bastia is Casabianda. H. Perett; a village situated on a well-cultivated estate belonging to the government; formerly used as an agricultural penitentiary for juvenile criminals. In the hot season it is safer to pass the night at Casabianda than at Aleria.

miles from BONIFACIO miles to BASTIA

{58-1/4}{44-3/4} ALERIA. Inn. The capital of Corsica till the invasion of the Saracens in the 4th cent., now a poor village with an old Genoese fort, situated at the mouth of the Tavignano, 1-1/4 m. from the Etang de Diane. Ancient Aleria, the colony founded by the dictator Sulla about 82 B.C., occupied both banks of the Tavignano, which waters one of the finest plains in the world, where winter is unknown. The site of the town was well selected. The population was probably 20,000.