Bastia Audio Guided Walking Tour 1h30 and 21 Audio Comments

Here you are in one of the main shopping streets of the city. This street is named after a French lawyer of the 20th century, born in Corsica and Minister of Marine, Justice and Hero of the First World War. Caesar Campinchi Street has typical Bastia facades and offers some shops for strolling, but also some bars and restaurants that attract both locals and visitors.

This typically Bastian street marks the entrance to the Terra Vecchia district, the oldest district of Bastia. This is Napoleon Street. If this great French emperor is everywhere here, it is simply because he was born in Corsica, in Ajaccio precisely! He spent the first 9 years of his life in Corsica, before moving to Brienne.

This small building in the heart of Napoleon Street is the Saint-Roch Oratory, dedicated to prayer. If a first building was built in the 16th century, it was in 1604 that it was built by Francesco Marengo. Its façade was redesigned in the 19th century in the neo-classical style, as was the white marble portal, which is topped with the shells of the pilgrims.

The Point of Sale Square, formerly known as Town Inn Square, has been home to the many Point of Sale stalls since 1880! Every weekend, it is here that you will find producers and locals haggling, discussing and exchanging local products in a warm and lively atmosphere.

Here you are in front of the largest church in Corsica, the Church of Saint John the Baptist. It is also visible on the Old Port, especially its two towers that stand above boats and houses. It was built in the 17th century in a baroque style, in place of an old church that was already there.

You are in front of the iconic view of Bastia! Boats in the foreground, typical houses of the city and mountains as a backdrop, the Quay Premier Bataillon de Choc allows to take THE representative photo of Bastia.

Set in a small cove dominated by the mountains, the Old Port of Bastia is a must-see place to discover the Island of Beauty. Although it is now only used for pleasure boats, it has shaped the history of the city since the 11th century!

Before focusing on the staircase in front of you, turn around and enjoy the scenery. From here, you have another perspective of the Old Port, including the bell towers of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste church that unfold behind the masts of the many boats.

With its lighthouse on the right and the Old Port of Bastia on the left, dominated by the mountains, this viewpoint gives you a real insight into the city as a whole! You are here at the foot of the Citadel.

New infrastructure of Bastia, inaugurated in 2020, the Aldilonda is delighting both locals and visitors! A true walk along the Mediterranean, this platform allows you to connect the Old Port to the Arinella beach, less than 3 km away.

Come on, I’m taking this moment when you’re walking along the pleasant Aldilonda to tell you about its must-see Citadel, one of the most historic parts of the city, which is right above you. Composed of small narrow streets, colourful houses with facades and some of Bastia’s iconic monuments, the Citadel is the Terra Nova, or upper town, in contrast to the lower town, called the Terra Vecchia, which brings together the Old Port and the streets of the city centre.

Here you are in front of one of the monuments of the Citadel not to be missed: Sainte-Marie Cathedral. The first church built on the rock of the upper town was built in 1488 and became a real cathedral a century later. But the cathedral that stands before you was completed in 1625 to replace the old one, which has no vestiges after the wars with France.

This little hidden esplanade is Guasco Square. Although it reveals a typical Corsican charm, it has recently been the subject of attention, as in 2019 remains were found buried underground. The central wall of a 16th century house was discovered, allowing us to affirm that there was not a place there at that time, but rather houses.

Notre-Dame Street is a historic street. Since the construction of the citadel, it has been the main street of this rocky promontory, and connects two of the most important monuments: the Cathedral of St. Mary and the Palace of Governors. It reveals beautiful typical houses with blinds and colorful facades, which constitute the true identity of this ancient walled city.

Turn around and admire the door in front of you. It marks the north entrance to the Citadel. At the time when the Genoese ruled the city, it was the only gateway to the walled city. In front of it was a large public square where people gathered and were executed.

On your right is the entrance to the Romieu Garden, the same name as the staircase below that leads to it. Designed in the 19th century by the architect Paul-Augustin Viale, like the staircase, this garden is a beautiful walk in nature on the heights of Bastia, through the vegetation composed of pine and palm trees and the statues, fountains and vases that decorate it.

You arrive at Vattalapesca Square. Located between the citadel and the Old Port, this area was recently renovated by the city of Bastia, in 2015, to breathe new life into it and recreate a living space for its inhabitants. On the right, going down to the port, is the U Puntettu district, a historic district that would have developed at the same time as Terra Vechja, the Old Port district, after the Genoese settled in the citadel.

Hidden in the heart of Bastian houses, the church of Saint-Charles was built in 1635 by the Jesuits. It was therefore dedicated to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, but when the Jesuits were expelled in 1769, it was dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan and Cardinal of the Catholic Church in the 16th century.

At the end of the street, on your left, stands the courthouse. The foundation stone of the building was laid in 1852 at the instigation of the city magistrates, who asked for a place equal to their profession to practice. After 6 years of construction, the courthouse was inaugurated in 1858, in the presence of many personalities of the city.

On the left, along Campinchi Street, is the Municipal Theatre. You can climb the stairs to see its façade, on the theater square. It was built in 1879, occupying an area of 8000 m2 in the center of Bastia. It also has the largest Italian-style hall in Corsica, allowing 800 spectators to attend the various performances that take place there.

Here you are in the main square of Bastia! A privileged meeting place for locals, this square is lively in all seasons: outdoor concerts in summer, ice rink and Ferris wheel in winter, Flea Point of Sale every Sunday morning, and even the Chocolate Fair every October. This vast esplanade, of rather surprising dimensions, is lined with trees along its entire length and reveals large palm trees at its end, which immediately put us in the atmosphere of the South.