Ancient medieval fortress, Nonza is located in Corsica, in the district of Bastia. Listed village, who was relieved by Pascal Paoli in 1760, overlooks the Mediterranean Sea, clinging to the cliff and offers a paradise to tourists in the region.
The originality of Nonza lies in the fact that it is not broken out in hamlets, unlike other surrounding villages. The village, crossed by the famous D80 road that goes around the Cap Corse, also presents a typically Corsican architecture, with old stone houses and a beautiful tower paoline green schist. Today Nonza lives mainly from tourism, which has become its greatest activity. Living the village has many shops and other restaurants that animate the city center throughout the year.
Very attractive with the arrival of the summer season, the village of Nonza often knows a parking difficult at this time of the year.
Village installed in eyrie above the cliff, Nonza has an important architectural heritage reflecting its different roots over centuries.
Entirely in green schist, the tower dominates Nonza paoline of the Mediterranean Sea from the top of a cliff. Once a medieval fortress stood at this location before being destroyed by the Genoese in 1489. Square in shape, this watchtower was commissioned by Pascal Paoli to monitor the Gulf of Saint-Florent. At 167 meters, it is built on the model of Genoese towers, with three floors and a crenellated terrace. It was listed as an historic monument in July 1926.
The fountain Ghjulia Santa has a large reputation for its water considered miraculous. According to legend, these are breasts cut off and thrown against a rock of the martyr Sainte Julie would have sprung this exceptional source. Next to the chapel of the same name is an important pilgrimage. A large staircase leads to the Navy, a former ruined port that was once the wealth of the village.
In the heart of the village of Sainte-Julie church or Santa Ghjulia, was built in the fourteenth century, in classical architecture on an old pre-Romanesque sanctuary. Colorful façade mixes the blue, red and yellow, and inside you can admire a painting representing St. Julie crucified, the sixteenth century. The church was listed as an historic monument, and various tables were classified themselves.
Above the church Sainte-Julie, visit the Ecomuseum of citron which traces the history of the fruit of the same name. The latter, a sort of giant lemon, made the wealth of the village Nonza until the nineteenth century.
One can admire other religious buildings in the village, like the Convent di San Francescu Nonza, today in restoration of the chapel Santa Maria Nativita or the Chapel of the Holy Cross Brotherhood.
Natural area of ecological interest, flora and fauna, the town encompasses almost the entire central ridge of Cape Corsica. You can admire a flora and fauna classified over different hikes.
If Nonza village is small, however it continues to celebrate the ancestral traditions and offers in the summer, lots of entertainment.
Every May 22, the village celebrates its patronal feast dedicated to Saint Julie, also patron of Corsica. On this occasion, an exhibition and a renowned pilgrimage, are celebrated in the streets of Nonza.
In summer, the village is literally alive and offers everything a cultural or sporting events program which attract tourists from all over Europe.
