2023-04-22 07:28:43
Florian Sanktjohanser
Ob architecture is successful, it is ultimately the citizens of a city who decide. In the case of Bastia, the vote with the feet is clear: “Everyone loves the new promenade,” says city guide Jean-Pierre Defendini.
Its Corsican name reveals why: “Aldilonda” is the name of the new walkway, “above the sea”. It meanders along the fortress wall for almost half a kilometer, its concrete slabs resting on steel girders drilled into the rocky shore. Steel rods with a contemporary rusty look line the promenade and provide a view of the glittering turquoise below.
There’s a lot going on even on an ordinary Tuesday. Joggers of all ages trot by, mothers push their prams, racing cyclists and young people on electric scooters overtake. Some want to go to the small, sandy beach of Ficaghjola, where families already crowd in the morning. Others continue to the southern districts, where the stadium of proud SC Bastia rises and the city ends in an endless series of shopping centers and outlets, factories and warehouses.
“Bastia is not yet a tourist town,” says Defendini. It is true that more than two million passengers arrive in the port on ferries from the mainland every year. “But most vacationers head straight south through the tunnel to the big beaches.”
Chic restaurants, broken facades
But now Bastia is applying for the title of European Capital of Culture 2028. More festivals, good hotels and trained guides should attract guests to the city. And of course Bastia should also become prettier – especially on the Vechju Portu. “The old port was a forgotten neighborhood,” says Defendini. Even in the first row, at the harbor basin with its sailing boats and small motor yachts, windowless, blotchy ruins are decaying.
People used to come from all over Corsica to have fun here in the port district. “The communist resistance against the Italians and Germans was very strong here,” says Defendini. The port was therefore bombed.
Even in the best locations, the houses in the old port are falling into disrepair
Source: dpa-tmn
But now the Vechju Portu is supposed to become a place to go out again. In recent years, a series of glass and steel pavilions have been placed in front of the crumbling facades. Chic signs above the awnings advertise sushi, tapas, burgers and vinotheques.
A new maritime museum is planned in two small buildings. And soon the parking lots around the harbor basin will give way to a pedestrian zone. “But the residents are totally against it,” says Defendini.
The double city
For a long time, Bastia was strictly divided into two: On a rocky hill sits the Genoese fortress from the 14th century, the Bastiglia, which gave the city its current name.
Together with the surrounding citadel with its narrow streets, it was called Terra Nova. At their feet, the houses of the Corsican farmers and fishermen lined up around the old port: the Terra Vecchia.
View of the old port
Source: dpa-tmn
“The Genoese and Corsicans didn’t mix for a long time,” says Defendini as he climbs the stone steps to the Église Sainte-Marie. The cathedral from the late 15th century revels in Genoese baroque, only the officials and soldiers of the occupiers went to mass here. “Corsican didn’t come in here,” says Defendini.
The locals therefore built an even larger church on the other side of the old port, the baroque Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Its twin towers are the city’s landmark today.
An elevator like a spaceship
“It used to be difficult to walk from Terra Vecchia to Terra Nova,” says Defendini. The Escalier Romieu was completed in 1873, a beautiful staircase. But its steep steps are not feasible for everyone.
Therefore, the city administration decided to build a new access for older people or tour groups from the old port up to Terra Nova. The 3.5 million euro project was called Mantinum, like the Roman city on whose foundations Bastia stands.
Break in style intended: The Mantinum connects the old port with the Genoese fortress
Source: dpa-tmn
Above all, the new elevator cannot be overlooked: Like a spaceship, its sharp concrete edge protrudes from the rocky slope on which bushes and agaves proliferate. The coarse-pored, exposed concrete striped in shades of brown and gray is a mix of cliff rock, polished slate and Cipollino marble.
“The Brutalist architecture is meant to be modern but fit into the ensemble of the citadel,” explains Defendini. The specialist magazine “D’Architectures” recognized the project as one of the eleven best of 2020 in France. The reaction of the residents, however, was mixed, says Defendini: “Some criticized that it looked like a bunker. Others like it.”
Open space with sea views
The project, designed by the same architects as the promenade, aims to merge the upper and lower town. If you take the elevator or climb the stairs through the steep archway, you step out into a concrete amphitheater: the Théâtre de Verdure, in English theater in the green.
So far, it’s not as popular as the promenade, says Defendini. Concerts tend to take place next door in the courtyard of the governor’s palace, which is now the city museum. But the open space definitely has potential. On this morning, a father and his son tirelessly practice step walking in the amphitheater, holidaymakers take pictures of themselves on the terrace overlooking the sea.
In the Jardin Romieu below the fortress there are welcome shaded areas on hot summer days
Source: dpa-tmn
If it gets too hot here in summer, it is best to take refuge in the Jardin Romieu – a small botanical garden that was created in the 19th century on the slopes below the fortress.
“For us Bastiais, this is still a disreputable place where young people smoke joints and lovers meet at night,” says Defendini. But now the rubbish has been cleared away, the winding stairs and paths have been newly paved. And metal signs explain the names of the trees and shrubs: pomegranate tree, Judas tree, Japanese spindle tree.
Even the botanical layman would recognize the mighty umbrella pines without a sign. You can sit in its shade on a bench at siesta time, enjoy the breeze and look over to the small lighthouse, where young people in brightly colored neon shorts jump off the quay wall. And thinks: Not so bad, this Bastia.
Aldilonda means “above the sea”. The new promenade keeps what the name promises
Source: dpa-tmn
tips and information
Getting there: By train to Livorno, Genoa, Savona, Nice or Toulon, where ferries depart for Corsica. There are direct flights to Bastia from several German cities.
travel time: Spring and autumn are optimal for Corsica. It is often very hot on the island in summer and many accommodations are fully booked during the French holidays.
Infos: www.visit-corsica.com/de; www.bastia-tourisme.com/de
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