Îles Sanguinaires

Ajaccio

At sunset, when the dark granite of the four islets blazes deep red, one understands at once the name Sanguinaires (the 'bloody ones') — and yet no one knows its origin for certain. Tradition is divided: for some, it is these blood-colored sunsets; for others, the frankenia, small pink-flowered plants whose leaves turn bright red in autumn and carpet the rocks; the fishing families of Ajaccio, for their part, pass down tales of ancient battles, Barbary raids, and even ghost ships glimpsed offshore at night. The documented history is no less romantic: a Genoese tower raised in 1550 at La Parata to watch for pirates, a lazaretto built in 1806 on the Grande Ile — Mezzu Mare — where coral fishermen returning from Africa served their quarantine, a semaphore station from 1865, and above all the lighthouse, lit in the mid-19th century after six years of heroic construction work, with materials arriving by barge and by donkey. It was there that Alphonse Daudet stayed in 1863: 'the reddish island of fierce appearance' inspired him to write 'Le Phare des Sanguinaires,' one of the finest texts in Lettres de mon moulin (1869), keeping watch with the keepers through the open-sea storms. The last keepers left when the lighthouse was automated in 1985; what remains are the gulls, a hundred and fifty plant species, and one of the most famous sunsets in the Mediterranean. The site has been labeled Grand Site de France since 2017.

Getting there : Coordinates given for the archipelago: access by boat from the port of Ajaccio (excursions); otherwise, viewing point at the Pointe de la Parata (by road, little train from Place Foch, coastal customs officers' path) facing the islands.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound