Corsica, as you know, is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, but its interior is made up of more rugged mountainous terrain than you might think.
In the past, the inhabitants of the island lived a self-sufficient life, hiding in small villages (paese) on this steep mountainous terrain, in order to protect themselves from external forces such as Carthage, Rome, the Germanic tribes, the Muslims and the Crusaders of the Middle Ages.
So, if you drive around Corsica, you can see these Paese villages in some mountain areas.
After leaving Bastia, our next stop was Venzolasca, one of these paese. It is a small village about 30 minutes by car south of Bastia.
この村を訪れたのは、こちらのiOSアプリを眺めていた時に発見したことがきっかけでした。
It was a very small village, and the only thing to see as a tourist was the church in the center of the village.
But it was closed inside and we couldn’t see it.
This is a view of the square in front of the church. It must be the center of the village.
There were also several paese around this Van Zoraska.
Today, Paese is easy to visit by car because the roads are well maintained, but you still have to climb a steep and winding slope.
Perhaps that’s how much they were afraid of the outside world. It was a memorable sightseeing tour that made us feel the history of such anguish in the beautiful scenery.
次はさらに南の方へと足を運んでみます。（続く）
