Bastia


Bastia is a commune in the department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest population of any commune on the island after Ajaccio and is the capital of the Bagnaja region and of the department.
Bastia is the principal port of the island and its principal commercial town and is known for its wines. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Bastiais or Bastiaises. The commune has been awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.
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History

Ancient times

During the Roman Empire, the site of Cardo with the north-eastern district of the current commune of Bastia and Pietrabugno formed a Pieve: the oldest known administrative division. This territory was occupied by the Vanacimi people. Bastia did not exist. Neither Ptolemy, Strabo, or Pliny in the descriptions they made of the island mentioned Bastia.

Middle Ages

At the end of the 9th century, the territory or pieve of Mantino depended on the lords Loretesi. They were driven out in 1072 by the Da Furiani, Aschesi or Laschesi, aided by the Marquis of Massa.
In 1370, the Republic of Genoa sent two governors to Corsica: Leonello Lomellino and Aluigi Toriorino. Shortly afterwards, considering the great expense and little profit in Corsica, the Republic decided to withdraw and no longer intervene in the affairs of the island. Nevertheless some Genoese gentlemen formed a partnership known as the Maona to try and manage the economy on the island on behalf of the Republic of Genoa. The five partners were: Leonello Lomellino, Giovanni da Balagnera, Aluigi Tortorino, Andreolo Ficone, and Cristoforo Maruffo. They all came with the title of Governor and brought with them a thousand soldiers.
After an expedition to Cinarca followed by a short period of peace, Leonello Lomellino returned as governor and to gain an advantage over the Count Arrigo della Rocca with whom he would have to fight, he began by fortifying Aléria. " Then Count Arrigo and his allies once again crossed the mountains and made incursions against Cap Corse: having met no resistance, they went to besiege Aléria which capitulated after four months. Leonello, deprived of all support, returned to Biguglia and from there he went to build the castle of Bastia to maintain his sea communications".
– Daniel Istria – Powers and fortifications in northern Corsica 11th – 14th Century, p. 145
According to Giovanni della Grossa, the "seigneurialisation" of Loreto would have been, as with Genoese families of the Cape, usurping the County title acquired during the "people's government". Small lordships that emerged from the courts of the Bishop of Nebbio, probably sometime in the second half of the 12th century or the beginning of the 13th century, were partly absorbed by the lords of Bagnaia before 1247. Then, before 1289, they were recovered and absorbed, like many others in the new lordship of Giovanninello de Loreto. Taking advantage of the Genoese-pisano rivalries, he extended his possessions to the east and west.
Written documentation illustrates the business of territorial conquest conducted by Giovanninello during the years 1260–1280. After raiding the castles of Nebbio and Pureto in the Ostriconi, he went on to the conquest of the pieve of Orto, which was then under the control of Bagnaia, and he built two new fortifications: Montebello and Petra di Bugno. These were intended not only to dominate and control the northern part of Bagnaia, whose Cerlino Lake had a certain economic interest, but probably also to neutralise Porto Cardo, which occupied a strategic military position as well as having businesses. It was here that the fortress of Bastia was erected, the residence of the Genoese governors from the 15th century. The agreements between Giovanninello and the commune of Genoa in 1289 demonstrated the importance of this baronial control of land routes and anchorages, a major source of revenue and a guarantee of the security of the territory.

Originally Cardo

Before the occupation of Corsica by the Genoese there were several communities of the pieve of Orto: Soverta, La Vetrice, Belgodere, Astima, and Le Corbaia. All these villages have today almost disappeared. On the coast there was a small hamlet inhabited by fishermen called Porto Cardo which means "Cardo Port".

Modern times

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Franciscans settled in the Pieve of Orto.
At the beginning of the 16th century, Monseigneur Agostino Giustiniani, Bishop of Nebbio, described in his Dialogo nominato Corsica:
– Agostino Giustiniani in Description of Corsica, translation by Lucien Auguste Letteron in History of Corsica, Bulletin of the Society for Historical and Natural Sciences of Corsica – Volume I – 1888, p. 50.
Continuing, he writes:
– Agostino Giustiniani in Description of Corsica, translation by Lucien Auguste Letteron in History of Corsica.
He ends his description as follows:
– Agostino Giustiniani in Description of Corsica, translation by Lucien Auguste Letteron in History of Corsica.

The Genoese era

The Genoese soon felt the need to protect Bastia from invasions coming from the sea and began to build a bastiglia and a citadel in the time of governor Leonello Lomellini.
Over time, the Bastiglia has grown, become prosperous, and become more important than Cardo.
Its history is in its "bastiglia" or citadel which was originally a walled city. Here it was the sea and the mountains that determined the location of habitations as well as the relief of the island. Bastia was the capital at the time of the Genoese domination. It spread to the slopes later, drawn toward the water in the Place Saint-Nicolas.
Created by the Genoese patrician Leonello Lomellini in 1353 to liaise with Genoa, the city originated on the roack where a tower was built and, a hundred years later, was surrounded by walls.
At the beginning of the 18th century, many improvements were made in the Punta district, where many shops were built. Bastia and the whole island came under French military domination on 8 May 1769.
In 1794, during a war with Revolutionary France, British troops under Admiral Nelson and Lieutenant-General David Dundas briefly captured Bastia.
In 1848, Bastia took 44 hectares from Ville-di-Pietrabugno.

Geography

Located in the North-East of Corsica at the base of the Cap Corse, between the sea and the mountain, Bastia is the principal port of the island. The city is located away from the northern tip of the Cap Corse, west from Elba, an Italian island, and away from continental Italy which can be seen a few days per year when visibility is excellent.
In terms of geography, Bastia is defined by its position between the sea and the mountain. The city is located on the Eastern side of the "Serra di Pignu", a mountain. This steep mountain and several hills in the city shape a relief typical of the Cap Corse. This pronounced landscape caused the city to develop mostly on a coastal band about wide, which is a very limited part of the that the commune has.
Above all, Bastia is a port, and the sea has of course a significant role in the spatial organization of the city. Bastia possesses nowadays three different ports. The old port, located in a remarkable and narrow cove, offers good natural shelter against the climatic hazards of the Mediterranean Sea. Thus, it was at the core of the initial development of the city. Nowadays, many pleasure and fishing boats are still there, but it is not as economically vital than the other more modern ports, although its touristic and aesthetic charm almost makes the old port the official emblem of the city. In fact, many cafés, bars and restaurants have moved to its docks to which access is granted by the city for pedestrians only during summer evenings.
A bit more to the north is located the commercial and ferry port. As a major economic asset of the city, the "port de commerce" is the pulse of the city. It is even more so during the summer when ferry arrivals and departures of thousands of passengers and cars can sometimes cause long traffic jams along the north–south axis, the national road RN193. In front of the commercial port, the large Saint-Nicolas square represents the heart of the city. Just north of the commercial port, the Toga marina, named after a city neighborhood, is a harbor for leisure boating activities like sailing and yachting. There are also some bars, restaurants and night clubs on its docks.
Thus, Bastia is organized on a relatively narrow north–south axis which can make access to the city centre difficult under particular circumstances. Nowadays, the city centre is mainly composed of the "citadelle", the stronghold, also called Terra-Nova, with the Genoese Governors' Palace, the old port and port quarter and the market plaza, and finally the ensemble of buildings along the "Boulevard Paoli", the main commercial street of the city, which lies from the Justice Court to the Avenue Maréchal Sebastiani.
During the last few decades, Bastia and its region have experienced a strong demographic growth, which has caused somewhat of a suburban crawl in the south of the city, because of the congestion of the city center.

Geology and relief

The commune is located in the Alpine Eastern Corsica region which is formed from "a succession of autochthons, para-autochtons and especially allochthons. The first two coincide roughly with the central depression. The allochhtons are mainly in the area of lustrous schists and ophiolites corresponding to the eastern relief ".
Its base rests on a granite bedrock, which has been covered with oceanic layers of:
  • Sedimentary rocks on the east coast, ranging from the mouth of the Ruisseau de Lupino north to the south bank of the mouth of the Travo
  • lustrous schists along the entire eastern side of Cap Corse,
  • ophiolite deposited in eastern Corsica during the Eocene period.
Note the presence of copper ore in Cardo which was once the subject of a concession.
Geographically, Bastia is characterized by its location between the sea and the mountains. The commune lies on the eastern flank of the "Serra di Pignu" a mountain which rises to 960 m above sea level. This steep mountain with other hills around Bastia forms the typical terrain of Cap Corse. This pronounced relief largely explains the development of the city on a coastal strip of about 1.5 km in width which is a very limited proportion of the 19.38 km2 of the whole commune.

Hydrography

The river network is sparse. There are three small streams flowing from west to east:
  • in the north the Ruisseau Fiuminale rises in the north-west of the commune 400 m north-east of Monte Muzzone. Along its length of 4.3 kilometres it forms the border between the communes of Bastia and Ville-di-Pietrabugno from its source to the roundabout of the Annunciation. Part of its course is covered in the city from the path of the Annunciation to the port where it empties into the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is fed by the Ruisseau de Cardo.
  • in the centre, the Ruisseau de Lupino is also 4.3 kilometres long with its source in the commune near the Cima Orcaio. The stream is covered from the Abbatoir crossroad to its mouth.
  • in the south the Ruisseau de Corbaia, 5.3 kilometres long. Its source is in the old quarry near the Col de Teghime.

Climate and vegetation

Bastia possesses a Mediterranean climate. The average annual temperature is and the average coldest night of the year barely goes below freezing. Winds are frequent and violent, precipitation copious, but there are also 240 sunny days on average per year.
The commune has two levels of vegetation as a result of its climate but also the flora:
  • Thermo-mediterranean level: from 1 to 100 metres altitude on the south-facing slope. This level is characterized by a dry summer season from two to three months that promotes wild olives, white asparagus, Mastics, Tree Spurges, Clematis, etc.
  • Meso-Mediterranean level: from 100 to 1000 m above sea level on the south-facing slope and 0 to 700m on the north slope. This level, with cooler temperatures, is characterized mainly by the holm oak, Maquis shrubland and arbutus but also by cork oak and maritime pine, the downy oak, chestnut, lavender, broom, cistus, and lentisk. On the heights, between bare rocks, vegetation is stubbly – swept by frequent and violent westerly and south-westerly winds which become stronger after crossing the ridge of the Serra di Pigno and blow down along the valleys to the sea. The winds form remarkable lenticular clouds off Bastia.

Transport

Road transport

There are three main access roads to Bastia:
  • from the South: by the Route nationale N193. A portion of about 23 km is 2X2 lanes between Arena and Vescovato since the inauguration of the "expressway Borgo-Vescovato" in January 2013. This is the major road axis into the Bastia region because it connects the city of Bastia directly or indirectly to all other Corsican towns while also passing through the main cities of the peripheral region of Bastia such as Furiani, Biguglia, Borgo, and Lucciana where Bastia Poretta Airport is located. This road is also called the Waterfront Route from the Montesoro district because it runs along the seafront up to the Old Port Tunnel which runs under the citadel and the Old Port. This road ultimately ends at Ajaccio.
  • from the West:, by the D81, a road which goes to Saint-Florent via the Col de Teghime.
  • from the North: by the D80, which goes in a loop around Cap Corse.

Bus transport

The urban area of Bastia is served by a bus network with 14 routes operated by the Autobus Bastiais company.

Rail transport

The Bastia railway station belongs to Chemins de fer de la Corse and is located in the city centre. There are services to Ajaccio and Calvi. There are also 7 other Bastia rail stops for suburban services to Casamozza: Lupino, Rivoli, Bassanese, Arinella, Montesoro, Sole-Meo, Erbajolo.

Sea transport

Despite its small size the port of Bastia is the busiest French port on the Mediterranean Sea with 2,291,944 passengers in 2011.
This makes it the second busiest French port behind Calais.
Ports served from Bastia are:
PortNo. of Passengers in 2014%age
Toulon25.6%
Livorno 24.7%
Marseille11.9%
Nice15.9%
Savona 15.2%
Genoa 5.2%
Other routes0.9%
Portoferraio 0.6%
Total100%

Source: CCI Haute Corse – Port Statistics 2014
Domestic traffic is 47.4% against 52.6% international traffic.
;Port Seasonality
As shown in the adjacent diagram, shipping and passenger traffic is characterized by a very marked seasonality. This is explained by the importance of summer tourism for the economy of Corsica. Thus the traffic is multiplied by eleven in the high season. This seasonality has a very strong impact on the city of Bastia, as on all Corsica. The city must be equipped with the necessary infrastructure to be able to accommodate such numbers of passengers even though it is for a short time each year.
;Port Passenger Market share
There is a clear dominance by Corsica Ferries:
Shipping CompanyNo. of passengers transported in 2014Market share
Corsica Ferries74.0%
SNCM11.3%
Moby Lines11.1%
La Méridionale3.7%
Total100%

Air transport

The Bastia – Poretta Airport is located 16 km south of the city in the commune of Lucciana. It is the second-largest airport in Corsica by passenger numbers after Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport.
It serves several French airports including Paris-Orly, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Marseille-Provence, Nice-Côte d'Azur, and Lyon-Saint-Exupery.
There are also some European routes such as London, Geneva, and Cologne. The main airlines are Air Corsica, Air France, EasyJet, Luxair, British Airways, and Volotea.

Administration

Lists of Mayors

FromToName
17701778Pierre Poggi
17791789Pierre-François Rigo
17891791B. Carrafa
17911794Jean-Baptiste Galeazzini
17941795Casimir Poggi
17951796Pierre-Antoine Casella
17961798Jean Benedetti
17981798Dominique Bozio
17981798Paul-Louis Stefanini
17981799Jean-Baptiste Ristori
17991800Pierre-Antoine Casella
18001800Ignace Agostini
18001808Pierre Giovellina
18081814Charles Cecconi
18141815Charles Vanucci
18151815Pierre Antoni
18151816Romuald Ficarella
18161818Antoine Carbuccia
18181820Joseph Graziani
18211827Jean-Antoine Didau
18281831Antoine-Hyacinthe Lota
18311833Antoine-Pierre Lota
18331840Antoine-Hyacinthe Lota
18401843Antoine-Joseph Casevecchie
18431848Antoine-Sébastien Lazarotti
18481848Philippe Caraffa
18481851Horace Carbuccia
18511854François Lota
18541858Vincent Piccioni
18581865François-Hyacinthe d'Angelis
18651870Antoine Piccioni
18701871Antoine Fabiani
18711879Ignace Bonelli
18711871Patrice de Corsi
18791881Jean-Jacques Ajaccio
18811882Auguste Etretti
18821888Ignace Bonelli
18881912Auguste Gaudin
19121917Jean-Baptiste de Caraffa
19171919Lucien Dupello
19191937Emile Sari
19371941Hyacinthe de Montera

;Mayors from 1941
FromToNameParty
19411943Joseph Gerardi
19431945Jacques Faggianelli
19451947Hyacinthe de Montera
19471968Jacques FaggianelliRadical
19681989Jean Crucien ZuccarelliMRG
19891997Emile Pierre Dominique ZuccarelliPRG
19972000Albert Calloni
20002014Émile Zuccarelli
20142016Gilles Simeoni
20162026Pierre Savelli

The Hotel de Ville was completed in around 1965.

Subdivisions

The Agglomeration Community of Bastia includes 5 communes with a total population of 57,276 in 2010.
Bastia is divided into four cantons, Canton of Bastia-1, Canton of Bastia-2, Canton of Bastia-3, and Canton of Bastia-4.

Twinning

Bastia has twinning associations with:

Demographics

In 2017, the commune had 45,715 inhabitants.

Education

The commune has 10 kindergartens, 13 primary schools, 5 colleges, and 7 High schools.
There is also a research institute of the engineering school of Arts et Métiers ParisTech. This institute was opened in 2000 and offers doctoral programs and specialized Masters in the field of renewable energy.
Bastia is the location of one of five regional institutes of administration in France for the training of future administrative officials.

Health

Bastia has a hospital in the Paese Novu district and a clinic in the city centre as well as another clinic specializing in ophthalmology in the Saint-Antoine district.
Around the city there is also the Zuccarelli Clinic and a polyclinic 2 km from the centre of town at Furiani.

Sports

SC Bastia is the football club for Bastia. The Armand-Cesari Stadium is located in the neighbouring commune of Furiani. The club was a finalist in the UEFA Cup competition in 1978 and winner of the Coupe de France in 1981. They were also finalists in the Coupe de France in 1972 and 2002, Champion of France in Ligue 2 in 1968 and 2012, as well as National Champion of France in 2011. In 2015 SC Bastia played and lost the final of the League Cup against PSG, 20 years after playing them in the same competition in 1995. The club currently plays in the Championnat National, following their demotion from Ligue 2 in the 2016–17 season.
Besides SC Bastia there are two other amateur football clubs: ÉF Bastia and another club which used to be known as CA Bastia. CA's highest point was playing in Ligue 2 during the 2013–14 season, however immediate relegation from Ligue 2, and further relegation from the Championnat National in 16–17 led them to merge with fellow lower league club Borgo, and form FC Bastia-Borgo, who currently play in the Championnat. A fourth club, the Football Corsica Club Bastiais disappeared after playing in six amateur championships in Corsica in the 1950s Historically each of these four clubs was supported by a different part of the city: the Place Saint-Nicolas district were blue, the Old Port was black, the citadel and the Saint Joseph district were white, and the market area was red. Sporting dominance has overshadowed other clubs in Bastia over time. At the end of the 2012/2013 season there were for the first time two professional clubs in Bastia: SC Bastia in Ligue 1 and the CA Bastia promoted from National, for a total of four Corsican professional football clubs.
Bastia was also a city-stage in the Tour de France 2013: the arrival point of the first stage from Porto-Vecchio and starting point for the second to Ajaccio.
Bastia was formerly the headquarters for the French round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Town planning

Bastia is primarily a port city so the sea has a predominant place in the spatial organization of the city. Nowadays Bastia has three different ports.
  • The Old Port: located in a narrow cove that offers good protection against the Mediterranean weather. It was therefore at the heart of the initial development of the city. Today it still is home to many yachts and fishing boats but it is not so economically vital for the city than the other modern ports, although its tourism and aesthetic appeal makes it an almost official emblem of Bastia. Many bar-cafes and restaurants have opened on its quays whose streets are pedestrian access only in the summer.
  • The Commercial Port: a little north of the Old Port, it is the major economic asset of the city. This is especially true in the summer period when thousands of arrivals and departures of passengers and vehicles can sometimes cause long traffic jams along Route nationale N193 despite the existence of a tunnel under the Old Port. Opposite the commercial port is the vast Place Saint Nicolas which is the heart of the city.
  • The Toga Marina: north of the commercial port partly in Ville-di-Pietrabugno is occupied by many sailboats and yachts. There are also several bars, restaurants and nightclubs on its quays.

The city centre and outlying urban areas

Today the city centre consists mainly of the citadel, the Palace of the Governors, the Old Port with its surrounding neighbourhood and the market place, and finally all the buildings along the Paoli Boulevard – the main commercial street of the city which stretches from the courthouse to the Avenue Maréchal Sebastiani.
In recent decades Bastia and its region have had strong demographic growth which has now grown beyond the municipal boundaries.
Bastia has several hamlets and districts that are, from north to south:Cardo: a village northeast of the city, Cardo was one of the first inhabited places in the area.Le Fango: an area which has developed recently on the mountainside. It includes in particular the prefecture of Haute-Corse, Bastia railway station, and the Lycée Giocante de Casabianca.GradicciaSaint AntoineFort LacroixLa CitadelleSaint JosephMonseratoLupino: a district south of the city, the first to be developed mainly with social housing.Paese Novo: a residential district overlooking Montesoro on the old "Imperial road" that bypasses the town via the heights. Bastia Hospital is located in this district.Montesoro: another residential district south of Bastia. It has large groups of new buildings with many shops. Montesoro also has large schools: technical and vocational schools, and a secondary education college.Erbajolo: another district at the southern end of town. It marks the beginning of the industrial zone south of Bastia agglomeration. It has the largest commercial area in the city and a football stadium.

Economy

The bastiaise agglomeration contains most of the few industries that exist in Corsica. However, the unemployment rate in the commune has persistently been one of the highest in France, standing at over 20% in 2004. Bastia is the seat of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bastia and Upper Corsica.
In the Bastia region the Chamber of Commerce and Industry manages the following facilities:Bastia Commercial Port: the port can accommodate eight large vessels simultaneously as well as pilot boats and tugs. It is the second largest port in France in terms of passenger traffic after Calais.Bastia – Poretta Airport is located south of Bastia agglomeration in the communes of Borgo and Lucciana.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has a large number of buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:
  • The Romieu Public Garden
  • The Joan of Arc Garden
  • The Law Courts
  • The Old Town Hall Garden
  • The Villayet Saint-Dominique Garden
  • The Saint-Antoine Convent Garden
  • The Napoleon Monument
  • The Donati Pleasure Garden
  • The Providence Garden
  • The Flach Garden
  • The Bon Pasteur Courtyard Garden
  • The Villa Fumarolli Pleasure Garden
  • The Sainte-Victoire Public Garden
  • The Maison Castagnola
  • The Maison de Caraffa
  • The Governor's Citadel and Palace The former palace of the Genoese governors houses the municipal museum, formerly the Ethnology Museum of Corsica. Abutting the old fortress tower and decorated with a 14th-century campanile, the Palace of Governors over the centuries guarded Terra Nova and beyond the ramparts of the Old Port. The city has undertaken a program of renovation of the palace under the direction of architects Cléris Daniel and Jean-Michel Daubourg. Besides the renovation of the palace the work helped to rebuild the part of the monument that was destroyed in 1943 during the fighting for the liberation of Corsica. The new museum was inaugurated in June 2010. The museum collections are organized into four themes: birth and urban growth, centre of power, cultural centre, and the Palace of Governors. The turret of the submarine Casabianca was preserved in the courtyard until the renovations.
  • The Mattei Terraces
  • The Villa Lota Garden
  • The Cardo Cemetery Garden
  • The German Cemetery Garden
  • The Bosquet Pecunia Green Area
  • A Foundry
  • The Cardo Copper Mine
  • The '''Toga Iron Works'''

Religious heritage

The commune has many religious buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:
  • The Old Church at Cardo
  • The Church of Saint Charles
  • The Church or Oratory of Saint Roch
  • The Parish Centre of Notre-Dame des Victoires
  • The Church of Notre-Dame de Montserato
  • The Church of Saint-Étienne de Cardo
  • The Church of Sainte-Marie a former Cathedral built in 1495 but heavily remodeled in the early 17th century, is located in the heart of the citadel.
  • The Church of Saint-Croix
  • The Church of Saint John the Baptist, one of the most emblematic monuments of the city of Bastia. Overlooking the Old Port, it was built from 1583 but experienced many additional worksjobs through the ages. It features a high classical façade, largely hidden by neighbouring buildings and a baroque interior from the 18th century.
  • The Church of the Conception
The churches contain a very large number of items which are registered as historical objects. In total there are more than 200 historical objects in Bastia.

Gastronomy

Some culinary specialties from Bastia and its region:Sardines au brocciu: fresh sardines stuffed with Brocciu cheese made from sheep milk;Baccalà: from cod; this dish was long considered the dish of the poor in Corsica because its price was affordable and it kept easily due to being heavily salted.

Films made in Bastia

Cela s'appelle l'aurore, French-Italian film by Luis Buñuel in 1955.Rosebud, American film by Otto Preminger in 1975.Forza Bastia, French documentary by Jacques Tati and Sophie Tatischeff in 1978.Les Déracinés, French television film by Jacques Renard broadcast in 2000.L'Enquête Corse, French film by Alain Berbérian in 2004.The Man from London, British-German-Hungarian film by Béla Tarr based on a novel by Georges Simenon.Mafiosa, French television series filmed mainly around Bastia and in Haute-Corse during the third season.

Notable people