Ajaccio, Corsica

Ajaccio is located on the west coast of the island of Corsica, 210 nautical miles 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. The modern city not only encloses the entire harbour but takes up the better part of the Gulf of Aj Accio.

About Ajaccio, Corsica in brief

Summary Ajaccio, CorsicaAjaccio is located on the west coast of the island of Corsica, 210 nautical miles 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. The inhabitants of the commune are known as Ajacciens or Ajacciennes. The most famous of these is Napoleon Bonaparte, who was born in Ajaccio in 1769, and whose ancestral home is now a museum. The city has a Mediterranean climate which is Csa in the Köppen climate classification. The average annual sunshine is 2726 hours, with wind and total precipitation between the city, the airport, and the Campo de Parata at 523mm. 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 the Citadelle are. The modern city not only encloses the entire harbour but takes up the better part of the Gulf of Aj Accio and in suburban form extends for some miles up the valley of the Gravona River. Many beaches and coves border its territory and the terrain is particularly rugged in the west where the highest point is 790 m. AjaccIO MarinaThe BayThe lighthouse of the citadel of Ajaccie overlooking the bayÎles SanguinairesThe market.

The market in the town of Les Salines appears on the waterfront, especially the buildings on the heights of the city – e. g. the Les Saline buildings, especially in the north. A dichotomy in the landscape between the old city and the modern buildings gives the city a two different image of a city built on two different levels. The population boom in the 1960s explains why 85% of dwellings are post-1949. There are important local climatic variations, especially with wind exposure and total rainfall, between the centre and the airport. The airport, the Campo de Ollroppo, is located at the 923mm at the pointe de la Parata and 923 mm at the îles Sanguinaire at the Camp de Campo  de Parata. The commune is the prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the Collectivité territoriale de Corse. It is also the largest settlement on the island. It has undergone various improvements, particularly under Napoleon, who originated the two current major structural arteries. The commune occupies a sheltered position at the foot of wooded hills on the northern shore of the Gulf of Aj Accio between Gravona and the point de La Parata  and includes the îles  Punta della Lechia. The rest of the territory is natural with habitation of little importance and spread thinly.