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MUSEUM OF BASTIA
Welcome
Shop
Temporary
exhibition
ENTRANCE
FIRST FLOOR
GROUND FLOOR
Rooms 6 to 18
Rooms 1 to 5
0:
Before Bastia
Rooms 1 to 5
Town planning, architecture
and living environment
1:
2:
Bastia yesterday and today
The Cityʼs historic centre : Terra vecchia and Terra
3:
4:
5:
Churches, chapels and convents
Through the centuries, an enduring architectural style
A room in 17 th century Bastia according to
inventories of estate of deceased persons
nova
LEGEND
1
Room of exhibition
Sense of the visit
Education aria
Réalisation : Laurent Serra • couverture : © Musée de Bastia – J.-A. Bertozzi
Garden
Rooms 6 to 12
Between Genoa and France, Bastia, the centre
of political,social and economic power
6 : Bastia, seat of the Genoese goverment
7 : Bastia, the most typically Corsican town
of all the Genoese towns
8 : Bastia and the Corsican revolutions
9 : The rise of the élites of Bastia
10 : Città maritima (maritime city)
11 : The age of industry – men and means
12 : Port Toga, a solid, enduring location
Rooms 13 to 18
Bastia, as a cultural centre
13 :
14 :
15 :
16 :
17 :
18 :
Bastia, a centre of baroque art in Haute-Corse
The Sisco legacy
The literary and intellectual elites
The governorsʼ Palace
The Fesch legacy
The Carlini collection
Disabilities way
Contact details : +33 (0)4 95 31 09 12
info@musee-bastia.com • www.musee-bastia.com
Musée de Bastia
Place du donjon - La Citadelle
20200 Bastia
a very strong influence on the style
of urban development, particularly
as far as baroque influence is
concerned. Some of the architectural pieces on show at the museum clearly demonstrate this
influence. The visit continues with
a display designed to portray the
living environment of the Bastia
notables in the Genoese period.
As well as architecture it features
elements of their decor such as
furniture.
FROM ONE MUSEUM TO ANOTHER
The museum is situated in the heart of the citadel, in the Genoese
Governors’ Palace. This
fortress, overlooking the
sea and the Vieux Port,
is located on the site of
the city’s very first building. Apart from the destruction it sustained to
parts of the North and
West wings during the liberation of Corsica du© Agence Cléris et Daubourg
ring WWII, it has changed
very little from the period under Genoese rule and has therefore
kept its character. Thanks to the renovation work carried out under
the supervision of Parisian architects Jean-Michel Daubourg and
Daniel Cléris, new facilities and amenities have been installed allowing the museum to develop the activities it offers: temporary exhibition halls, a reception hall and boutique, an auditorium, an
educational workshop, reserve collections and a documentation
centre. However, the modern additions are in keeping with the Genoese architectural style.
Closed for around ten years, the museum shall reopen as a completely new institution offering visitors the opportunity to discover
the multiple facets of the city of Bastia. In fact, the Ethnographic Museum of Corsica is succeeded by a museum that presents the history of the town, through an exhibition covering three main themes:
The rooms on the ground floor are dedicated to
Bastia’s urban development.
Supplement to the land registration plan of Bastia
Jean D’AUBIGNY, 1772 – MEC.2005.14.1 – © Musée de Bastia – Y. Inchierman
As well acting as a stronghold, the city was from its earliest days,
one of the most active ports on the island. The port and the citadel
are consequently the main structural elements of the city and it is
therefore natural that the new museum should devote part of its
exhibition rooms to the subject. Furthermore, religious power had
Four poster bed between 1580 and 1650,
Italy – MEC.2005.21.1
© Musée de Bastia – J.-A. Bertozzi
The exhibition rooms on the first floor are partly dedicated to the history of Bastia as a centre of political, social and economic power.
port played an increasingly central role in its development. From
the 19th century, the bourgeoisie of Bastia was predominantly
made up of financiers, merchants or commercial ship owners,
who were main promoters of industrial capitalism in Corsica.
As the capital of genoese Corsica, Bastia naturally became a very dynamic cultural centre.
The local elite formed many literary and intellectual societies.
As a consequence Bastia became a literary centre and works produced by local authors were distributed all over the island and
even overseas. One such author from Bastia, Salvatore Viale,
was a privileged witness and critic of the progressive Frenchification of this elite. However, artistic creation continued to remain
highly influenced by Italian tradition, partly as a result of two legacies bequeathed to the city in the 19th century. The donation
made by Giuseppe Sisco, surgeon to Pope Pius VII and a native
of Bastia, allowed many young students from Bastia to perfect
their training in Rome. Those who benefited from this donation
were predominantly architects, painters and sculptors. And in Bastia, a prestigious collection donated by Napoleon’s uncle, Cardinal Fesch, allowed local artists to draw inspiration from what is a
veritable stylistic repertoire of 16th to 18th century Italian painting. The last two rooms are dedicated to the history of the Governors’ Palace and the Carlini collection.
Head of woman, original plaster cast
for the Monument to the dead of Bastia,
Louis PATRIARCHE (1872-1955), around 1921
MEC.2006.26.2 – © Musée de Bastia – J.-A. Bertozzi
Keystone representing
saint Georges 16 th century,
sculpted slate from Lavagna,
Italy – MEC.56.13.63
© Musée de Bastia
J.-A. Bertozzi
Starting with an exposé on the government
of Corsica under Genoese rule, visitors then
discover how, in the
years that followed, the
formation of a local elite
Portrait of Joseph Valery in his study,
not only dominated the Pierre COLONNA d’ISTRIA , around 1850, oil on canvas
MEC.56.13.204 – © CICRP – Y. Inchierman
island’s economy and
management but also brought about the development of commercial
activities in the Mediterranean.
However, when in 1811 Bastia lost its status as the political capital of Corsica, the city refocused its efforts on developing its other activities and strengthening its position as the economic capital. The
Mystical marriage of sainte Catherine,
attributed at Nicolao CASTIGLIONI,
around 1620, oil on canvas
MEC.92.1.1 – © CICRP – E. Hubert