An island like no other. The tourist attractions of this continent in miniature based squarely on its natural heritage. In fact, no other Mediterranean island is as green as Corsica. With these classified sites and nature reserves which are the subject of national recognition or registration as World Heritage by Unesco, the international marine park and its Regional Nature Park, which stretches on both d 'across the mountain range, between Calvi and Porto-Vecchio and extends over a third of the island. La Corse reste une île largement préservée. Corsica is an island largely preserved. With more than 2,000 plant species, Corsica colors will dazzle you. The islands Cerbicales, sanctuary crested cormorants, the Lavezzi Isles where 68 species of fish have been identified, the islands Finocchiarla, Scandola, first reserve Fracne both terrestrial and marine and pond Biguglia 127 nesting species of Aquatic birds. Spring flowers fragrance charge of the maquis, where delicious fall feast on chestnuts in the high-perched villages, it is good to discover the Corsican nature in all seasons. HISTORY: Prehistory Corsica is definitely occupied by small groups from the seventh millennium BC.The first known human being is "the Lady of Bonifacio" (circa 6570 BC. JC). In Neolithic man occupies the entire island, agriculture and livestock grow and villages organized. Regular reports to the Mediterranean coast closest are some. A brilliant civilization is built in the third millennium. She knows how to melt copper, carved hundreds of standing stones that are sometimes real statues, and built huge stone constructions (castelli, torri). Everything indicates an organized society, very close to that of Sardinia Nuraghic. Antiquity Corsica enters history when the Greeks landed there in Phocis in 565 bC Implantés à Aleria (Alalia), ils comptent y fonder leur principal centre en Occident. Based in Aleria (Alalia), they intend to base their main center in the West. They are winners in 540 of their neighboring allies, Etruscans and Carthaginians, but with heavy losses if they drop some of their colony. Aleria remains a major center where people live from outside and Corsicans "barbarians".They maintain their lifestyle but have ties with major powers, which they provide mercenaries. The strategic location of the island and the usefulness of forests for shipbuilding make an issue of the Punic wars. The Roman conquest finally overcome the last resistance in 111. It is followed by settlement, and to Mariana Aleria. As new arrivals settle in Corsica Corsicans are found throughout the empire. The island is rapidly Christianized, at least on the coasts. The Middle Ages After successive invasions, Corsica is defended against the Moors by the Frankish kings and their vassals of Tuscany. The feudal lords of the island take sides in the confrontation between the republics of Genoa and Pisa.After the domination of Pisa, who is remembered as an era of peace and artistic and cultural development, Genoa needed. The fourteenth century is an era of ferment, with the heresy of Giovannali, then an anti-feudal revolution in 1358, under the direction of Sambucucciu Alandu. Threatened with a return of lords, the Municipality of Corsica "is given" a contract to Genoa, then great Mediterranean power. The island is divided for a long time between South and North feudal democratic. Genoa takes centuries to succeed against the lords cinarchesi who dream of creating a state Corsican with external support.Only at the beginning of the sixteenth it comes to the end, after the destruction that has drained some of the country. In this period, Genoa, Bonifacio control since 1195, built the new towns, populated by only its first settlers, and sets out a program of development. If this seems certain prosperity, dreams of liberation still give a sense of patriotism Corsican to French occupation in 1553, with the help of mercenary Sampieru Corsu.When Genoa retrieves the island Sampieru resumed fighting until his glorious death which made it a symbol. Genoese Peace and Revolution Genoa control Corsica unopposed for one hundred and fifty years. It began when the great barbarian raids that destroy entire regions and involve the construction of the network of coastal towers. The "long seventeenth century" (from 1567 to 1729) is marked by population growth and agricultural development and trade. Education is progressing and a layer of rural notables was formed. Corsica eighteenth is subject to a republic exhausted, it is the last colony.An elite influenced by the Enlightenment protest against the inefficiency of the system genoa. The revolution, which began as a revolt against the tax is structured progressively.Neither side could achieve military victory alone. The insurgents will provide a state system, with its own constitution, anthem and flag: first under the German king Theodore de Neuhoff, then under the regime led by Pasquale Paoli from 1755. This establishes a stable democratic government, which controls almost the entire territory, and launched an economic development policy (establishment of a fleet and port of Ile Rousse) and cultural (the creation of the University). It puts an end to the excesses of the traditional vendetta and spreading the concept of public interest. The Constitution of 1755, which affirms the right of peoples to freedom, appears as a model around the world. Unable to recapture the island, Genoa ceded to France May 15, 1768. Since long, the French monarchy sought to control Corsica in a strategic purpose. The battle of Ponte Novu in 1769 breaks the organized resistance. Paoli went into exile in England, while the guerrillas continued until 1774. Corsica, plunged back into the Old Regime, serves as experience for innovations planned for across the UK. The young men of prominent families are studying in France, while the island is without places of training, the exacerbation of taxes and the subjugation of common lands exasperated population. The Revolution of 1789 was understood by the Corsicans as a rally in France to the ideas they stood twenty years ago.In the enthusiasm that the island is included in the "French Empire" November 30, 1789, while Paoli receives a hero's welcome and regains power. But the oppositions are not slow: Paoli, accused of the failure of the expedition to Sardinia and summoned to the Convention, calls for England. On June 10, 1794 is proclaimed the Anglo-Corsican kingdom: the island, whose king is that of England, has its own constitution . This experience lasts two years: a new exile Paoli and successes of Bonaparte in Italy facilitate the French reconquest in 1796. 19th and 20th century Despite some attempts to develop the Empire is primarily a time of repression. In the remainder of the nineteenth century structure the system of "clans": two parties, consisting of village groups, display the form for a political commitment. The crime reaches its climax, and the island is folded upon itself in spite of advances in transportation. Secret societies still show the commitment of many Corsicans to a revolution in Italy. Only under the Second Empire, which offers careers outside, as the Corsicans to integrate all French. The nineteenth century witnessed a population growth (up to 340 000 inhabitants), without corresponding economic development. The mass exodus began towards France and its colonies, and to Latin America. The island, crowded and wretched compared to its resources, received from the War of 1914 a terrible blow: 12,000 dead and many departures. This disaster is developing a first nationalism, expressed in the journal A MUVR.The reconciliation of this current with Italian fascism discredited. Occupied by the Italians in November 1942, Corsica is the choice of France and, under Communist leadership, was released in September 1943. www.visit-corsica.com

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