Page 540 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

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BONIFACIO

! A7 ⌂ Corse-du-Sud @ g n 2 rue Fred Scamaroni; bonifacio.fr
Known as the “Citadel of Cliffs”, Bonifacio is dramatically perched atop a limestone
and granite cliff at the end of a peninsula. The southernmost town in Corsica, this
EXPERIENCE Corsica is surrounded by an array of beautifully secluded beaches.
seculded settlement is home to a charming harbour and an ancient citadel, and

stone staircase winds down towards the
Bonifacio’s handsome harbour at the foot of
the cliffs is the focus of local life: cafés, restau­
matchbox­sized, stony Sutta Rocca Beach,
rants and boutiques abound and boats depart
regularly for neighbouring Sardinia and the
here, cut into the cliffs, is the King of Aragon’s
uninhabited Lavezzi islands. From here, steps overlooking the Grain de Sable. South of
Stairway, 187 very steep steps leading down
lead up to Bonifacio’s fortified Old Town. The to the sea.
citadel is a maze of sardine­tight alleyways, It’s worth exploring the rest of the promon­
Renaissance churches and red­roofed, slender tory, including the Capo Pertusato lighthouse,
houses. Built by the conquering Genoese at dating from 1838; this improbable building
the end of the 12th century, it has long been affords spectacular views across the Strait of
the town’s main defensive post, and from 1963 Bonifacio and the Lavezzi islands. At the tip of
to 1983 was the headquarters of the French the promontory stand three old windmills and
Foreign Legion. From the citadel a narrow the ruins of a Franciscan monastery.

The town of Bonifacio,
spectacularly located atop
eroded limestone cliffs
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