Corte: Paoli's Capital and the Restonica
Corsica, France
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Corte
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250
XP
+100 France
= 350 total
1 day
Corte: Paoli's Capital and the Restonica
250 + 100 XP
Corte, in the middle of the island, was the capital of independent Corsica under Pasquale Paoli from 1755 to 1769, and it is still thought of as the historic and cultural capital. Paoli's university was founded here in 1765 and reopened in 1981; the citadel on its rock has held the Museum of Corsica since 1997. Behind the town the Restonica gorge climbs towards its source in the Lac de Melo at 1,711 metres on Monte Rotondo — though the storms of November 2023 washed away the Tragone bridge, so the road no longer reaches the Grotelle sheepfolds and the lake is now a long day's walk.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Go up to the promontory the Curtinesi call the belvédère and look at the citadel from outside first — four centuries of building from the 15th to the 18th — then take the museum ticket, which also lets you into the citadel itself, and walk both
2
of 5
Find the Palazzu Naziunale in the heart of the citadel, the 16th- and 17th-century house where the government of the short-lived Corsican state actually met, and the pictures Cardinal Fesch left to the town of Corte that hang in it
3
of 5
Walk the campus of the université de Corse-Pascal-Paoli at the end of the day and count the student cafés on the cours Paoli: Paoli's university opened in 1765, shut when independence ended, and since 1981 has brought about 3,800 students back into a mountain town of a few thousand people
4
of 5
Drive the D623 up the Restonica as far as Tuani at the sixth kilometre, park where the barrier stops you, and walk down to the river for the waterfalls and the rock pools — this water came off Monte Rotondo and the Lac de Melo and has 18 km to run before it meets the Tavignano in Corte
5
of 5
Find 1, place du Poilu below the citadel ramparts — the Arrighi de Casanova house, rebuilt in 1760 after a fire, where Napoleon's parents were living when Joseph Bonaparte was born on 7 January 1768 — read the plaque over the door, then walk to the church of the Annonciation where he was christened the next day
Go up to the promontory the Curtinesi call the belvédère and look at the citadel from outside first — four centuries of building from the 15th to the 18th — then take the museum ticket, which also lets you into the citadel itself, and walk both
Find the Palazzu Naziunale in the heart of the citadel, the 16th- and 17th-century house where the government of the short-lived Corsican state actually met, and the pictures Cardinal Fesch left to the town of Corte that hang in it
Walk the campus of the université de Corse-Pascal-Paoli at the end of the day and count the student cafés on the cours Paoli: Paoli's university opened in 1765, shut when independence ended, and since 1981 has brought about 3,800 students back into a mountain town of a few thousand people
Drive the D623 up the Restonica as far as Tuani at the sixth kilometre, park where the barrier stops you, and walk down to the river for the waterfalls and the rock pools — this water came off Monte Rotondo and the Lac de Melo and has 18 km to run before it meets the Tavignano in Corte
Find 1, place du Poilu below the citadel ramparts — the Arrighi de Casanova house, rebuilt in 1760 after a fire, where Napoleon's parents were living when Joseph Bonaparte was born on 7 January 1768 — read the plaque over the door, then walk to the church of the Annonciation where he was christened the next day
Before you go
Since the storms of November 2023 the Restonica road stops short of the Grotelle sheepfolds, and from May to September private cars are limited to the first 6 km. Lac de Melo is 6–7 hours return on foot from A Frassetta.
The Musée de la Corse opens daily 10.00–19.00 from 1 May to 31 October, but from 1 November to 30 April it shuts on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays and closes at 17.00, and it is closed outright from 31 December to 14 January — so a winter weekend here loses the citadel as well, because the ticket covers both. On the Restonica the D623 is closed beyond Tuani from 15 November to 30 March, and from 2 May to 30 September private vehicles can only reach Tuani at kilometre 6; the shuttle up to A Frassetta is ticketed only through the VIA CORSICA app and nothing can be bought on board. Lac de Melo is frozen five to six months of the year.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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