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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Citadelle

Ajaccio, Corse-du-Sud, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit), in part
Protection
inscrit MH partiellement
Extent of protection
Les fortifications avec fossés, escarpes et contrescarpes (cad. BY 35, 36, 38 à 40) : inscription par arrêté du 18 juillet 1975
Protection dates
1975/07/18 : inscrit MH
Type
citadelle
Main period of construction
16e siècle, 19e siècle
Dates
1554, 1559
Ownership
propriété de l'État
Commune
Ajaccio
Département
Corse-du-Sud
Region
Corse
Country
France
Coordinates
41.91695, 8.74018
Mérimée reference
PA00099062

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1783 map "Corse." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

En 1487 et 1488, les Gênois bâtirent un donjon au bout du promontoire de la citadelle actuelle. Celle-ci fut édifiée pour l'essentiel de 1554 à 1559, oeuvre du maréchal de Termes et de son successeur, Giordano Orsini. Les fronts bastionnés côté terre furent construits, les ouvrages extrêmes furent reliés au donjon et les deux courtines ainsi obtenues flanquées de deux tours dites de l'Etendard et du Revelan. L'ensemble fut ensuite entouré d'un fossé mis en communication avec la mer. Après le départ des Français, en 1559, les Gênois, sous la direction de l'ingénieur Jacopo Pratino, construisirent un saillant en face de l'ancien château, et les tours de l'Etendard et du Revelan furent remplacées par les redans de Saint-Jean et de Saint-Mathieu. De 1770 à 1829, les Français procédèrent à divers aménagements : subsistution des fossés secs aux fossés en eau ; édification du Bastion neuf (1775)...

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

In 1487 and 1488, the Genoese built a keep at the end of the promontory of the present citadel. The latter was built for the most part from 1554 to 1559, the work of the marshal of Termes and his successor, Giordano Orsini. The bastioned fronts on the land side were constructed, the extreme works were connected to the keep and the two curtains thus obtained flanked by two towers called the tower of the Standard and the tower of the Revelan. The whole was then surrounded by a ditch put in communication with the sea. After the departure of the French, in 1559, the Genoese, under the direction of the engineer Jacopo Pratino, constructed a salient opposite the old castle, and the towers of the Standard and the Revelan were replaced by the ravelins of Saint-Jean and Saint-Mathieu. From 1770 to 1829, the French carried out various alterations: substitution of dry ditches for water ditches; construction of the New Bastion (1775)...

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
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