History & Civilisation
Before Bastia, there was a small fishing village in the area, called Cardo. After the Genoese built a small fortress on a hill atop the village in 1378, the town started to develop and became known as Bastia, due to the “bastille”. Today Cardo is a district of Bastia.
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Two notable sacred monuments stand out in the city. The first, Santa Maria church, was built in 1495 and heavily reworked in the 17th century. The other one is St. Croix chapel with an exuberant interior decoration and its most valued treasure, the Christ of Miracles, found floating on the water by two fishermen in 1428.
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Two other religious sites, which give a more artistic vibe, can be found around Bastia. Near the old port, the Church of Saint John the Baptist from 1583, boasts a noble classical facade, and its baroque interior of the 18th century. The interior is filled with remarkable furniture, an organ and paintings from the collection of Cardinal Fesch. The other religious artistic center is the chapel of the Immaculate Conception built in 1611. The 19th century painted vault and the stretched velvet walls house many pieces of religious art of the 15th and 19th centuries.