Palais Fesch, Ajaccio, Art museum in Ajaccio, France.
The Palais Fesch is a neoclassical building with multiple floors housing over 350 paintings, including works by major Italian artists from the medieval period through the Baroque era. A chapel and a public library with thousands of volumes occupy the same building complex.
Cardinal Joseph Fesch, Napoleon's uncle and archbishop of Lyon, planned an arts institute in his native Ajaccio from 1806. Construction of the palace began in 1827, was interrupted in 1829 by the Bourbon government, resumed in 1833 and finished in 1852. By a will registered on 25 April 1839 he left the city 1,000 works, including 843 paintings; the museum closed in June 1979 and reopened on 9 July 1990 after restoration.
The museum's name honours Cardinal Joseph Fesch, Napoleon's uncle, who donated 843 paintings from his own collection. The Corsican school section gathers nearly a thousand graphic works and paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries. A separate room displays about 700 pieces connected to the First and Second Empires.
The museum occupies four floors and 27 rooms, entered from the courtyard with the bronze statue of Cardinal Fesch. The Napoleonic collection is in the basement, 16th- and 17th-century Italian paintings on the first level, and 17th- and 18th-century works plus the Grand Gallery on the second. The Chapelle Fesch, in the right wing, holds the tombs of Letizia Ramolino and the cardinal.
The Chapelle Fesch, added to the palace in 1857–1859 by Crown architect Alexis Paccard with Jérôme Maglioli, was consecrated on 9 September 1860 in the presence of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie. It holds the tombs of Cardinal Fesch and of Letizia Ramolino, Napoleon's mother, who died in Rome in 1836.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,534 contributors worldwide.
