Peeps at Many Lands: Corsica

Corsica is so small that from its highest point one can see almost all over the island. It is only about three times the size of Yorkshire. As the island is approached by steame...

A few of the main events in Corsican history during the last three or four hundred years will be told in connection with the accounts given in the following chapters, of the pri...

Aleria is a little hamlet on the east coast of Corsica. In the days when the Romans held the island there was a population of about 20,000. To-day there is but a mere handful of...

The Genoese founded five colonies in what are now five of the chief towns of Corsica. These were Bonifacio, Calvi, San Florent, Bastia, and Ajaccio. Four of these towns are desc...

Calvi was the second colony founded in Corsica by the Genoese. These “colonies” were not places like the English colonies of Canada, South Africa, and elsewhere, where people em...

The third of the Genoese colonies in Corsica, St. Florent, we shall pass over without further mention. The fourth, Bastia, was at one time the capital, and is still the chief co...

Ajaccio as we see it to-day is not an old town. The fortress that is known to have existed here in earlier times has disappeared, and the city that was the seat of a bishopric f...

Somewhere about the year 1000 a number of feudal lords, or “signori,” leagued themselves together and set up a capital at Corté, the centre of the island, and in the very heart...

Perhaps the best known of all the Corsican heroes is the last upon the national roll, Pascal Paoli. He is certainly the most popular in his native land, where he is affectionate...

There are some scholars who say that the word “Corsica” means the “Land of Woods,” and that this name was given to the island at a very early time by the Phœnicians. Several of...

We know that in very early times, when a man felt himself injured, he took the law into his own hands and punished the offender--that is, if he were strong enough. Later on, whe...

Though life is held very cheaply in Corsica, mourning and burials are attended with a great deal of ceremony. It is a fairly general rule throughout the world that, as a race be...

The most famous bandit of modern times died early in the year 1907. The story of his life, interesting as it is in itself, is still more interesting as illustrating what was sai...

In whatever country you travel, sit awhile by the road-side. If it be a small country, and you sit down for an hour or two, you may see and hear much that is typical of the land...

It might be thought that it was hardly worth while to write a chapter on Corsican animals, as they would be sure to resemble those found in other parts of Europe, and would, the...

In the previous chapters we have learned something about the character of this island race. We have seen that in general the men are lazy and quarrelsome, yet fond of their coun...

Amongst the mountain ranges that run through and across the island, and amongst the cliffs that line the shore, or the great rocks that lift their heads threateningly above the...