girolata

Girolata
Near the Scandola reserve is an emblematic site of Corsica: Girolata.
A small and picturesque village, its originality lies in its idyllic location, accessible only on foot or by boat (from Porto and Calvi).
If no road leads to Girolata, it is possible to reach the village from the Col de la Croix, 22 km north of Porto.
This magnificent hike of about 4 hours round trip, will make you discover a breathtaking panorama through the maquis, with a possible bathing break on the beach of Tuara halfway.
Here, many tourists in summer, certainly, but a village far from any seaside complex, without any superfluous tourist equipment.
A journey through small streets, around an exquisite vegetation of eucalyptus, in front of the blue immensity of the sea, one of the most beautiful bays of the island.
Enchanting village, you will be quickly filled by this stopover.
The protection of the regional natural park ensures the site's fauna and beauty, without fear of possible degradation linked to tourism.
For the record
In the Middle Ages, Girolata was considered a very strategic place because it was isolated and protected, had fresh water and offered the possibility of watching the entrance of the gulf from the rocky promontory. The Barbary pirates did not hesitate to make a break here in all tranquillity. It was here that the famous Dragut (or Turgut Reis), Barbarossa's protégé, an Ottoman admiral and privateer feared by all his enemies for his seafaring skills and military genius, was captured in 1540 by Giovanni Doria, Andrea Doria's nephew. After this episode, it was decided to fortify the promontory: at first it was a simple rectangular tower, built in the middle of the 16th century, completed over time with a platform bordered by a polygonal enclosure, another tower nested in the first, a barbican ... until forming this strongly defended fortress in the first quarter of the 17th century.