The best running trails around Casanova

The **Citadel of Corte**, also called the "Nid d'Aigle" (Eagle's Nest), is an impressive fortress towering high above the Corsican city. ### 🛡️ Brief description: * **Unique location and construction history:** The only major Genoese fortress in the island's interior, built on a rugged rocky outcrop – erected in 1419 by Vincentello d'Istria, and significantly expanded in the 18th century according to Vauban principles. * **Structure & Defense:** Three defensive levels with defensive walls, battlements, a castle ("Nid d'Aigle"), and barracks high above the confluence of the Tavignano and Restonica rivers. * **Historical significance:** Center of Corsican power under Pasquale Paoli (1755–1769), later a garrison, prison, and site of the Foreign Legion until 1983. * **Current use:** Since 1984 as the **Museum of Corsica** (art, history, and anthropology), headquarters of the FRAC CORSICA, tourist office, and multicultural center – open to the public, including barracks, prison, and outdoor facilities. * **Views & atmosphere:** Breathtaking panoramas over Corte and the river valleys beyond (Restonica, Tavignano), plus a step-by-step tour of impressive architecture. **In brief:** The Citadel of Corte – a historically significant fortified structure in the eagle's nest style, a unique site in the Corsican highlands. Today, it houses fascinating museums, diverse cultural offerings, and offers spectacular views. Ideal for those seeking to combine history, architecture, and landscape.

Corte is located on a high plateau at an altitude of 436 m at the confluence of the Restonica and Tavignano rivers. It has 7,654 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2021) and is the seat of the sub-prefecture of the arrondissement of the same name.

On his way to England, Paoli was received and honored throughout Europe as a freedom hero. He met, among others, Joseph II and Goethe, who later described this encounter in Poetry and Truth:[2] Paoli's life was characterized by the fight for the goal of a united Corsican nation. To this end, he entered into changing alliances with France and England and maintained contacts with Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Frederick the Great, Catherine II of Russia, the Pope, the young United States of America, the Turkish Sultan and the Bey of Tunis.

On his way to England, Paoli was welcomed and honored throughout Europe as a freedom hero. He met, among others, Joseph II and Goethe, who later described this encounter in Poetry and Truth:[2] Paoli's life was marked by the struggle for the goal of a united Corsican nation. To this end, he entered into varying alliances with France and England and maintained contacts with Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Frederick the Great, Catherine II of Russia, the Pope, the young United States of America, the Turkish Sultan, and the Bey of Tunis.

Joseph was born Giuseppe Buonaparte in 1768 to the notary and landowner Carlo Buonaparte and Laetitia Ramolino in Corte, the capital of the Republic of Corsica. The young couple lived there in the house of Laetitia's uncle Arrighi di Casanova. The Republic of Genoa had sold the island to the Kingdom of France in the same year, but an uprising against the French had broken out under the leadership of Pasquale Paoli, in which Carlo Buonaparte took part on diplomatic missions and ultimately as captain of a company of partisans. After the uprising was crushed, however, he was amnestied, his property was returned and in 1771 he was even granted French nobility by Louis XV.

Joseph Bonaparte (7 January 1768 in Corte, Corsica; † 28 July 1844 in Florence), born as Giuseppe Buonaparte, was the eldest brother of Napoleon and was appointed by him first as Joseph I (Italian Giuseppe I) King of Naples (1806–1808) and then also as Joseph I (Spanish José I) King of Spain (1808–1813). After the fall of Napoleon, he called himself Comte de Survilliers.

Pasquale Paoli was born in 1725 in Stretta in the municipality of Morosaglia on Corsica. His father, General Giacinto Paoli, was a kind of prime minister in the short-lived Kingdom of Corsica under King Theodore I of Corsica and went into exile in Naples in 1739 with his youngest son Pasquale. In 1755, Paoli returned to Corsica as a 30-year-old ensign in the King's Corsican Guard and fought the Genoese as commander at the head of the Corsican guerrilla. He managed to drive them out of the interior and trap them in a few port cities. In the same year, Paoli gave Corsica a democratic constitution and temporarily governed Corsica. He made Corte the capital. Among other things, he was friends with the Buonaparte family, who fought with him against the Corsican enemy Marius Matra. Carlo di Buonaparte, Napoleon's father, worked on a Corsican constitution and became Paoli's right-hand man. When the Genoese handed the island over to France on May 15, 1768 until it was redeemed, Paoli fought the French. In 1768, the French, who had landed with 10,000 men, had to withdraw. A year later, however, 22,000 men landed under the leadership of the Comte de Vaux and defeated the Corsicans in the Battle of Ponte Novu on May 9, 1769. Paoli laid down his arms and chose exile. In 1790, the revolutionary National Assembly decided on the final annexation of Corsica to France.

Pasquale Paoli was born in 1725 in Stretta, in the municipality of Morosaglia, Corsica. His father, General Giacinto Paoli, was a kind of prime minister in the short-lived Kingdom of Corsica under King Theodore I of Corsica and, in 1739, went into exile in Naples with his youngest son, Pasquale. In 1755, Paoli returned to Corsica as a 30-year-old ensign in the King's Corsican Guard and, as commander at the head of the Corsican guerrillas, fought the Genoese. He succeeded in expelling them from the interior and entrenching them in a few port cities. In the same year, Paoli gave Corsica a democratic constitution and temporarily ruled Corsica. He named Corte its capital. Among other things, he was friends with the Buonaparte family, who fought with him against the Corsican enemy Marius Matra. Carlo di Buonaparte, Napoleon's father, collaborated on a Corsican constitution and became Paoli's right-hand man. When the Genoese ceded the island to France on May 15, 1768, pending redemption, Paoli fought the French. In 1768, the French, who had landed with 10,000 men, were forced to withdraw. A year later, however, 22,000 men landed under the command of the Comte de Vaux and defeated the Corsicans in the Battle of Ponte Novu on May 9, 1769. Paoli laid down his arms and chose exile. In 1790, the revolutionary National Assembly voted for the final annexation of Corsica to France.