Cathédrale d'Ajaccio et la Madunuccia

Ajaccio

Built between 1577 and 1593 to plans attributed to the Italian Giacomo della Porta, the cathedral of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption in Ajaccio adopts a Renaissance-style Greek-cross plan; its high altar of white marble inlaid with marbles from Lucca was consecrated in 1580, and the chapel of the Madonna del Pianto holds a canvas by Eugène Delacroix. It was here that Napoleon Bonaparte was baptised on 21 July 1771. But the spiritual heart of the city beats above all for the Madunnuccia. In 1656, as plague was ravaging Italy and threatening Genoa and its possessions, the Magnificent Elders of Ajaccio consecrated the city in perpetuity, by notarial deed, to Our Lady of Mercy, who according to tradition had appeared to an old peasant of Savona in 1536. The city was spared — the infected Genoese ships never reached the harbour — and tradition even relates that the Madonna turned enemy vessels to stone, the "Sette Nave" still visible today. Ever since, on 18 March, a public holiday in Ajaccio, a Mass in the cathedral precedes the procession of the statue, decked in her jewels, through the streets, while on the previous evening candles and lanterns light up the place Foch and the windows and balconies of the whole town.

Getting there : Rue Forcioli-Conti, old town of Ajaccio; free entry outside services, parking in the town-centre car parks

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

Ambient sound