Country France Department Haute-Corse Time zone CET (UTC+1) Population 2,774 (1999) Arrondissement Calvi, Haute-Corse | Region Corsica Canton L'Île-Rousse Area 250 ha Local time Monday 4:22 AM Team FB Île-Rousse | |
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Intercommunality Bassin de vie de l'Île-Rousse Weather 12°C, Wind E at 6 km/h, 86% Humidity Points of interest Plage de l'Ile Rousse, Phare de la Pietra, La tour génoise | ||
Big small travel in corsica calvi l le rousse highlights the citadel and more
L'Île-Rousse (Corsican: L'Ìsula, Italian: Isola Rossa) is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.
Contents
- Big small travel in corsica calvi l le rousse highlights the citadel and more
- Map of LC38Ele Rousse France
- History
- References
Map of L'%C3%8Ele-Rousse, France
It was founded in 1758 by Pasquale Paoli to create a port that would not be in the hands of the Genoese like Calvi. As Italian was until 1848 the administrative language of Corsica, the town was originally named Isola Rossa (Red Island) from the ochre colour of a rocky islet that served as a natural harbour.
Along with Saint-Florent, it is one of only two communes in the département to have a French name — all the others have kept their Italian names despite the repeated demands of Corsican nationalists.
History
Inhabited since very ancient times (between 5000-3000 BC), l'Île-Rousse was in 1000 BC a small, prosperous town dependent on Tyre in Phoenicia, called Agilla. Destroyed by the Phoenician fleet of Calaris (Galeria), Agilla came under Roman rule as Rubico Rocega (red rock) until the 4th century AD. Being so close to the sea, it was threatened by pirates and other potential enemies, and was not inhabited for several centuries except for fishermen and peasants who lived on the products of the sea and earth around the villages of Santa Reparata and Monticello.
In the 17th century, merchants from Santa-Reparata-di-Balagna established shops to trade by sea with the coastal villages of the Balagne, Nebbio, and the west of the Cap Corse. About 1759, Pasquale Paoli, who often came to Balagne, decided to equip Corsica with a port in the north west of the island to try to cut the sea traffic between Genoa and Calvi. His plans prepared, he persuaded the Balagne government, sitting in Algajola, to authorise him to create a fort protecting the port (the Scalu) on 10 December 1765. L’Île-Rousse was born from this decision.