Historic site and monument
the citadel of ajaccio
Situated in the heart of Ajaccio, the Miollis Citadel, whose first stone was laid in 1492 and which has been continuously transformed up to the present day, was occupied until recently by the State's military services.
The Citadel was built on a strategic site by the Genoese in order to protect the city effectively from maritime attacks. It originally consisted of a keep or citadel (castello) and a lower wall. The fortress was built in 1492 under the authority of the Genoese Office of Saint George. In 1553, with the arrival of Sampiero and the French troops, work was carried out to enlarge the citadel. In 1559, Giovan Giacomo Palearo, an engineer known as "il Fratino", reinforced the fortifications and separated the Citadel from the rest of the city. It was hexagonal in shape and had six bastions.
In the middle of the 18th century, the Republic of Genoa, at the end of its tether and having to face the incessant Corsican revolts led by Pasquale Paoli, let the French take control of the island little by little. The island was ceded to them in 1768. At the beginning of the French period, the Citadel was enlarged in order to reinforce its defensive character (construction of casemates and the artillery battery of the low bastion). During this period, the number of occupants of the Citadel increased. From less than 100 soldiers at the time of the Genoese to almost 800 French soldiers. New buildings were then constructed within the enclosure, and the existing buildings were enlarged. Finally, in 1789, the ditches were emptied in order to clean up the site. During the 19th century, the Citadel's vocation became less and less defensive and it gradually became a military barracks.
During the Great War, the Citadelle served as a registration and rallying point for Ajaccio's soldiers before they left for the front. It was also occupied by Italian fascists during the Second World War, and was the place of detention of heroic resistance fighter Fred Scamaroni, creator of the Gaullist Action R2 Corsican network in 1941, commissioned by General de Gaulle in January 1943 to attempt to unite the Resistance. He was arrested by the OVRA (Italian counter-espionage). He chose to commit suicide, in order to keep his mouth shut.
Since 2014, the town of Ajaccio has been carrying out a planning and development review of the city center, including the Citadel and the Genoese town. The town's aim is to develop and open up the Citadelle, while at the same time promoting it as an exceptional heritage site in the town center, to truly reunite the two areas...
Occupied by the military until 2020, it is now the property of the Town of Ajaccio.
- Citadel
Free access to the site
Visible without a visit
Ideal
In couple
With family
In a group
Visits
- Child-friendly tours
- Guided tours on request
- Self-guided tours
Group
- Self-guided tours
Home/Opening
Openings
- MondayFrom 09:00 to 20:00
- TuesdayFrom 09:00 to 20:00
- WednesdayFrom 09:00 to 20:00
- ThursdayFrom 09:00 to 23:00
- FridayFrom 09:00 to 23:00
- SaturdayFrom 09:00 to 20:00
- SundayFrom 09:00 to 20:00
- Open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday to Wednesday and from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, depending on the evening.
20000 AJACCIO