Citadelle de Calvi, Medieval fortified citadel in Calvi, France

The Citadelle de Calvi occupies a limestone promontory on the coast and is enclosed by thick stone walls that form its defensive perimeter. Within these walls, winding streets pass administrative buildings, a cathedral, and residential structures arranged in its medieval layout.

Calvi's citizens asked Genoa for help against local nobles and a Franco-Turkish threat, and the Genoese built the citadel between the 13th and 15th centuries. From the early 15th century the Genoese bank Casa delle Compere di San Giorgio financed the work with gold coins worth about 60,000 pounds. The Sampiero barracks, formerly the governors' palace, was completed by 1492, and the Callelu tower dates from 1495.

The church of St-Jean-Baptiste, dating from the 13th century, became the residence church of the Bishop of Sagone in 1625 and was rebuilt between 1628 and 1747. Inside are a polychrome marble altar, a baptismal font in the form of a Greek cross, and a triptych by the Genoese painter Barbagelata in the apse. Iron-grilled side chambers let noblewomen attend services apart from other worshippers.

Access runs from the lower town along Boulevard Danièle Casanova to Place Christophe Colomb, where the entrance keeps its drawbridge. The Sampiero barracks and the Camp Rafalli complex are in military use and cannot be visited. The Callelu tower of 1495 stands at harbour-promenade level on the south side.

Above the citadel's gate a plaque reads "Civitas Calvi – semper fidelis", the citizens' pledge of eternal loyalty to Genoa. The Casa delle Compere di San Giorgio financed the works from the early 15th century with Genoese gold coins, said to be worth about 60,000 pounds.