Ajaccio
Ajaccio
| |
|---|---|
Prefecture and commune | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Location of Ajaccio | |
  Ajaccio Location within France  Ajaccio Location within Corsica | |
| Coordinates: 41°55′36″N 8°44′13″E / 41.9267°N 8.7369°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Corsica |
| Department | Corse-du-Sud |
| Arrondissement | Ajaccio |
| Canton | Ajaccio-1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 |
| Intercommunality | CA Pays Ajaccien |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2026–32) | Stéphane Sbraggia[1] |
Area 1 | 82.03 km2 (31.67 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 76,320 |
| • Density | 930.4/km2 (2,410/sq mi) |
| Demonym(s) | Ajacciens (in French), Aiaccini or Ajaccini (in Italian), Aiaccini or Aghjaccini (in Corsican) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 2A004 /20000 |
| Elevation | 0–787 m (0–2,582 ft) (avg. 38 m or 125 ft) |
| Website | www |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
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Ajaccio[note 1] is the capital and largest city of Corsica, France. It forms a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the Collectivité territoriale de Corse (capital city of Corsica). It is also the largest settlement on the island. Ajaccio is located on the west coast of the island of Corsica, 210 nautical miles (390 km) southeast of Marseille.
The original city went into decline in the Middle Ages, but began to prosper again after the Genoese built a citadel in 1492, to the south of the earlier settlement. After the Corsican Republic was declared in 1755, the Genoese continued to hold several citadels, including Ajaccio, until the French took control of the island.
The inhabitants of the commune are known as Ajacciens (men) or Ajacciennes (women).[5] The most famous of these is Napoleon Bonaparte, who was born in Ajaccio in 1769, and whose ancestral home, the Maison Bonaparte, is now a museum. Other dedications to him in the city include Ajaccio Napoleon Bonaparte Airport.[6]
Toponymy
[edit]Several hypotheses have been advanced as to the etymology of the name Ajaccio (Aiacciu in Corsican, Addiazzo on old documents). Among these, the most prestigious suggests that the city was founded by the Greek legendary hero Ajax and named after him. Other more realistic explanations are, for example, that the name could be related to the Tuscan agghiacciu meaning "sheep pens". Another explanation, supported by Byzantine sources from around the year 600 AD called the city Agiation which suggests a possible Greek origin for the word,[7] agathè could mean "good luck" or "good mooring" (this was also the root of the name of the city of Agde).
Geography
[edit]Location
[edit]Ajaccio is located on the west coast of the island of Corsica, 210 nautical miles (390 km) southeast of Marseille. The commune occupies a sheltered position at the foot of wooded hills on the northern shore of the Gulf of Ajaccio[8] between Gravona and the pointe de la Parata and includes the îles Sanguinaires (Bloody Islands). The harbour lies to the east of the original citadel below a hill overlooking a peninsula which protects the harbour in the south where the Quai de la Citadelle and the Jettée de la Citadelle are. The modern city not only encloses the entire harbour but takes up the better part of the Gulf of Ajaccio and in suburban form extends for some miles up the valley of the river Gravona. The flow from that river is nearly entirely consumed as the city's water supply. Many beaches and coves border its territory and the terrain is particularly rugged in the west where the highest point is 790 m (2,592 ft).
Ajaccio Marina
The Bay
The lighthouse of the citadel of Ajaccio overlooking the bay
Îles Sanguinaires
The market
A satellite image of the city and surrounding water.
Urbanism
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Although the commune of Ajaccio has a large area (82.03 km2), only a small portion of this is urbanized. Therefore, the urban area of Ajaccio is located in the east of the commune on a narrow coastal strip forming a densely populated arc. The rest of the territory is natural with habitation of little importance and spread thinly. Suburbanization occurs north and east of the main urban area.
The original urban core, close to the old marshy plain of Cannes was abandoned in favour of the current city which was built near the Punta della Lechia. It has undergone various improvements, particularly under Napoleon, who originated the two current major structural arteries (the Cours Napoleon oriented north–south and the Cours Grandval oriented east–west).
Ajaccio experienced a demographic boom in the 1960s, which explains why 85% of dwellings are post-1949.[9] This is reflected in the layout of the city which is marked by very large areas of low-rise buildings and concrete towers, especially on the heights (Les Jardins de l'Empereur) and in the north of the city - e.g. the waterfront, Les Cannes, and Les Salines. A dichotomy appears in the landscape between the old city and the imposing modern buildings. Ajaccio gives the image of a city built on two different levels.
Climate
[edit]The city has a Mediterranean climate which is Csa in the Köppen climate classification. The average annual sunshine is 2,726 hours.
There are important local climatic variations, especially with wind exposure and total precipitation, between the city centre, the airport, and the îles Sanguinaires. The annual average rainfall is 645.6 mm (25.4 in) at the Campo dell'Oro weather station (as per the chart) and 523.9 mm (20.6 in) at the Parata: the third-driest place in metropolitan France.[10] The heat and dryness of summer are somewhat tempered by the proximity of the Mediterranean Sea except when the sirocco is blowing. In autumn and spring, heavy rain-storm episodes may occur. Winters are mild and snow is rare. Ajaccio is the French city which holds the record for the number of thunderstorms in the reference period 1971–2000 with an average of 39 thunderstorm days per year.[11]
On 14 September 2009, the city was hit by a tornado with an intensity of F1 on the Fujita scale. There was little damage except torn billboards, flying tiles, overturned cars, and broken windows but no casualties.[12]
| Town | Sunshine (hours/yr) |
Rain (mm/yr) | Snow (days/yr) | Storm (days/yr) | Fog (days/yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National average | 1,973 | 770 | 14 | 22 | 40 |
| Ajaccio | 2,735 | 616 | 2 | 39 | 3[14] |
| Paris | 1,661 | 637 | 12 | 18 | 10 |
| Nice | 2,724 | 767 | 1 | 29 | 1 |
| Strasbourg | 1,693 | 665 | 29 | 29 | 56 |
| Brest | 1,605 | 1,211 | 7 | 12 | 75 |
Weather Data for Ajaccio
| Climate data for Ajaccio (AJA), elevation: 5 m (16 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1949–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 22.4 (72.3) |
25.3 (77.5) |
29.6 (85.3) |
32.2 (90.0) |
34.6 (94.3) |
41.6 (106.9) |
40.3 (104.5) |
39.5 (103.1) |
40.0 (104.0) |
35.0 (95.0) |
29.4 (84.9) |
22.7 (72.9) |
41.6 (106.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 14.0 (57.2) |
14.2 (57.6) |
16.0 (60.8) |
18.5 (65.3) |
22.1 (71.8) |
25.9 (78.6) |
28.6 (83.5) |
29.2 (84.6) |
26.1 (79.0) |
22.8 (73.0) |
18.3 (64.9) |
15.1 (59.2) |
20.9 (69.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 9.4 (48.9) |
9.2 (48.6) |
11.0 (51.8) |
13.4 (56.1) |
17.0 (62.6) |
20.7 (69.3) |
23.2 (73.8) |
23.7 (74.7) |
20.8 (69.4) |
17.7 (63.9) |
13.6 (56.5) |
10.5 (50.9) |
15.8 (60.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4.7 (40.5) |
4.3 (39.7) |
5.9 (42.6) |
8.4 (47.1) |
11.8 (53.2) |
15.4 (59.7) |
17.7 (63.9) |
18.1 (64.6) |
15.4 (59.7) |
12.6 (54.7) |
9.0 (48.2) |
5.8 (42.4) |
10.8 (51.4) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −7.0 (19.4) |
−8.1 (17.4) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
3.0 (37.4) |
6.8 (44.2) |
9.2 (48.6) |
9.1 (48.4) |
7.6 (45.7) |
1.6 (34.9) |
−3.2 (26.2) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
−8.1 (17.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 54.1 (2.13) |
48.1 (1.89) |
50.4 (1.98) |
53.1 (2.09) |
49.8 (1.96) |
25.9 (1.02) |
8.6 (0.34) |
15.8 (0.62) |
57.8 (2.28) |
85.7 (3.37) |
111.8 (4.40) |
73.9 (2.91) |
635.0 (25.00) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 7.0 | 6.7 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 5.0 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 5.1 | 7.4 | 9.3 | 8.6 | 68.0 |
| Average snowy days | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 81 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 | 78 | 76 | 76 | 78 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 79 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 135.8 | 155.6 | 210.8 | 230.4 | 288.3 | 332.3 | 373.6 | 343.3 | 260.6 | 206.9 | 140.2 | 124.0 | 2,801.7 |
| Source 1: Meteo France[15][16] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Infoclimat.fr (relative humidity 1961–1990)[17] | |||||||||||||
| Parameter | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average number of days with thunder | 2.1 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 3.1 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 2.0 |
| Mean number of days with hail | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Number Nights with air frost | 3.8 | 3 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 2.6 |
| Number Days with no Sunshine | 3.7 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1 | 2.5 | 4.3 |
| No. of days with mean temperature > 18.0 °C (64.4 °F) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 20.5 | 30.0 | 30.6 | 25.1 | 9.8 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| No. of days with max temperature > 30.0 °C (86.0 °F) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 4.7 | 4.5 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Heraldry
[edit] |
In 1575, the Senate of Genoa granted to the city of Ajaccio Arms of blue with a silver column sumounted by the Arms of Genoa between two white greyhounds. This is not the current Arms.
Blazon:
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History
[edit]
Antiquity
[edit]The city was not mentioned by the Greek geographer Ptolemy of Alexandria in the 2nd century AD despite the presence of a place called Ourkinion in the Cinarca area. It is likely that the city of Ajaccio had its first development at this time. The 2nd century was a period of prosperity in the Mediterranean basin (the Pax Romana) and there was a need for a proper port at the head of the several valleys that lead to the Gulf able to accommodate large ships. Some important underwater archaeological discoveries recently made of Roman ships tend to confirm this.
Further excavations conducted recently led to the discovery of important early Christian remains suggest that an upwards reevaluation might be necessary of the size of Ajaccio city in Late Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages. The city was in any case already significant enough to be the seat of a diocese, mentioned by Pope Gregory the Great in 591. The city was then further north than the location chosen later by the Genoese - in the location of the existing quarters of Castel Vecchio and Sainte-Lucie.
The earliest certain written record of a settlement at Ajaccio with a name ancestral to its name was the exhortation in Epistle 77 written in 601AD by Gregory the Great to the Defensor Boniface, one of two known rectors of the early Corsican church,[19] to tell him not to leave Aléria and Adjacium without bishops. There is no earlier use of the term and Adjacium is not an attested Latin word, which probably means that it is a Latinization of a word in some other language. The Ravenna Cosmography of about 700 AD cites Agiation,[20] which sometimes is taken as evidence of a prior Greek city, as -ion appears to be a Greek ending. There is, however, no evidence at all of a Greek presence on the west coast and the Ionians at Aléria on the east coast had been expelled by the Etruscans long before Roman domination.[citation needed]
Ptolemy, who must come the closest to representing indigenous names, lists the Lochra River just south of a feature he calls the "sandy shore" on the southwest coast. If the shore is the Campo dell'Oro (Place of Gold) the Lochra would seem to be the combined mouth of the Gravona and Prunelli Rivers, neither one of which sounds like Lochra.
North of there was a Roman city, Ourchinion. The western coastline was so distorted, however, that it is impossible to say where Adjacium was; certainly, he would have known its name and location if he had had any first-hand knowledge of the island and if in fact it was there. Ptolemy's Ourchinion is further north than Ajaccio and does not have the same name. It could be Sagone.[21] The lack of correspondence between Ptolemaic and historical names known to be ancient has no defense except in the case of the two Roman colonies, Aleria and Mariana. In any case the population of the region must belong to Ptolemy's Tarabeni or Titiani people, neither of which are ever heard about again. [citation needed]
Archaeological evidence
[edit]The population of the city throughout the centuries maintained an oral tradition that it had originally been Roman.[22] Travellers of the 19th century could point to the Hill of San Giovanni on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Ajaccio, which still had a cathedral said to have been the 6th-century seat of the Bishop of Ajaccio. The Castello Vecchio ("old castle"), a ruined citadel, was believed to be Roman but turned out to have Gothic features. The hill was planted with vines. The farmers kept turning up artifacts and terracotta funerary urns that seemed to be Roman.
In the 20th century, the hill was covered over with buildings and became a part of downtown Ajaccio. In 2005 construction plans for a lot on the hill offered the opportunity to the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) to excavate. They found the baptistry of a 6th-century cathedral and large amounts of pottery dated to the 6th and 7th centuries AD; in other words, an early Christian town. A cemetery had been placed over the old church. In it was a single Roman grave covered over with roof tiles bearing short indecipherable inscriptions. The finds of the previous century had included Roman coins. This is the only evidence so far of a Roman city continuous with the early Christian one.[23]
Medieval Genoese period
[edit]It has been established that after the 8th century the city, like most other Corsican coastal communities, strongly declined and disappeared almost completely. Nevertheless, a castle and a cathedral were still in place in 1492 which last was not demolished until 1748. [citation needed]
Towards the end of the 15th century, the Genoese were eager to assert their dominance in the south of the island and decided to rebuild the city of Ajaccio. Several sites were considered: the Pointe de la Parata (not chosen because it was too exposed to the wind), the ancient city (finally considered unsafe because of the proximity of the salt ponds), and finally the Punta della Lechia which was finally selected.
Work began on the town on 21 April 1492 south of the Christian village by the Bank of Saint George at Genoa, who sent Cristoforo of Gandini, an architect, to build it. He began with a castle on Capo di Bolo, around which he constructed residences for several hundred people.[24]
The new city was essentially a colony of Genoa. The Corsicans were restricted from the city for some years.
Nevertheless, the town grew rapidly and became the administrative capital of the province of Au Delà Des Monts (more or less the current Corse-du-Sud). Bastia remained the capital of the entire island.
Although at first populated exclusively by the Genoese, the city slowly opened to the Corsicans while the Ajaccians, almost to the French conquest, were legally citizens of the Republic of Genoa and were happy to distinguish themselves from the insular paesani who lived mainly in Borgu, a suburb outside the city walls (the current rue Fesch was the main street).
Attachment to France
[edit]Ajaccio was occupied from 1553 to 1559 by the French, but it again fell to the Genoese after the