Ajaccio Cathedral, Cathedral in Ajaccio, France.
Ajaccio Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, is a baroque church in the old town of Ajaccio, Corsica. Its floor plan follows a Latin cross layout, and its pale stone facade with pilasters faces a narrow street that leads toward the nearby harbor.
Construction of the cathedral began in the late 16th century, commissioned by the Genoese rulers who controlled the island at the time. It was gradually completed and modified over the following two centuries, taking on its current form by the 1700s.
The baptismal register of the cathedral holds the record of Napoleon Bonaparte's christening, which draws many visitors curious about his early life in Corsica. Inside, paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries line the walls, including one attributed to a young Delacroix.
The cathedral sits in the oldest part of Ajaccio and is easy to reach on foot from most central points in the city. Visiting outside of main service times gives you more space to look around the interior at your own pace.
Excavations beneath the floor of the cathedral revealed remains of earlier places of worship, showing that this spot has been used for religious purposes for many centuries before the current building was raised. These underground traces point to a long continuity of sacred life at this exact location.
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