LYCOS RETRIEVER
Corsica
built 655 days ago
In two hectares of private landscape, facing the bay of Porto-Vecchio on Corsica's spectacular south coast, the Hotel Casa del Mar is a hotel of fine luxury and elegant leisure, heralding the start of a new jet-set era for the island. The hotel's exceptional views of the Mediterranean are framed in clear-lined architectural forms that highlight the Hotel Casa del Mar's privileged location. This sleek simplicity is further underscored by the use of natural grey stone throughout the hotel, large red cedar terraces and contrasting, lively fabrics. The result is a hotel full of light, with an atmosphere of calm and ease. Wellness plays a major role at the Hôtel casadelmar, and their spa illustrates this. Four massage cabins, a hammam, gym and relaxation rooms are all available in an area dominated by wide vistas of the sea.
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One of the more curious episodes of Corsican history was the attachment of Corsica to the English crown, albeit with a certain degree of autonomy. It all started when Pascal Paoli led the Corsican nationalists of the day to resist the rule of Genoa and drew up a democratic constitution in 1755. ever to exist in the Democratic tradition". However, in 1768 the French stepped in and crushed the Corsican nationalists. Under the Treaty of Versailles of that year, the French had bought out the Genoese for a pittance (an act that met with the criticism of Voltaire). Paoli went into exile in London.
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Corsica food has French and Italian influences, but has many unique dishes. The chestnut was one of the ancient (and even current) Corsican's mainstay foods, and many meals and even desserts are prepared with this. Also, most of the domesticated pigs on the island are semi-wild, released to forage for food much of the year, and the charcuterie reflects this excellent flavor. Typical corsican charcuterie include lonzu, coppa, ham, figatellu and saucisson made from pig or boar meat. Canistrelli are typical corsican pastries which come in many different flavors. Corsica ... produces a uniquely flavored olive oil made from ripe fruits collected under trees.
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Naturally enough, Corsica has a Mediterranean climate - at least at coastal levels. Prevailing winds are south-westerly, westerly and north-westerly. This of course, varies considerably with altitude and mountain forms. At about 1500 metres it becomes alpine. Don't forget that the island goes from sea level to about 9 000 feet, with a land mass only about 100 by 50 miles. Micro climates give a wide variety of temperatures and precipitation.
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Corsica's latter-day difficulties date from the 1960s, when France came to be perceived as pursuing a colonialist policy on the island. In response, a Corsican movement for autonomy began to take shape. An early catalyst was the resettlement of Algerian refugees from the French defeat in Algeria on Corsica's eastern plain. Following the dumping of toxic waste off Bastia by an Italian multinational in 1976, the Front de Libération Nationale de la Corse (FLNC) was established. Talk of autonomy became talk of independence, and explosives became part of the equation. By the 1990s splinter groups had emerged and the factions warred against each other as savagely as they had against their perceived coloniser.
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The earliest inhabitants of Corsica were probably Ligurian. The Phocaeans of Ionia were the first civilized people to establish settlements there. About 560 B.C. they landed in the island and founded the town of Alalia. By the end of the 6th century... their power had dwindled before that of the Etruscans, who were in their turn driven out by the Carthaginians. The latter were followed by the Romans, who gained a footing in the island at the time of the First Punic War, but did not establish themselves there till the middle of the 2nd century B.C. Both Marius and Sulla founded colonies - the one at Mariana (near Lucciana) in 104, the second at Aleria in 88. In the early centuries of the Christian era Corsica formed one of the senatorial provinces of the Empire, but though it was in continuous commercial communication with Italy, it was better known as a place of banishment for political offenders.
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