Citadel of Bastia, 14th-century fortification and governor palace in Bastia, France

The Citadel of Bastia, also called Terra Nova, is a walled quarter on a rocky promontory above the sea. Its lower ramparts of light tan stone follow the rock, while pale yellow buildings with flat and low-pitched roofs rise behind. A tall square tower with a domed top stands at the left of the upper group, and a large flat-roofed building dominates the ridge to the right.

Genoese governor Leonello Lomellini founded the fortress around 1380 on a rocky promontory above two harbours, replacing Biguglia as the seat of power. In 1475 podestà Antonio Tagliacarne had about twenty houses built beside it, creating the Terra Nova quarter. The walls were rebuilt several times between 1575 and 1626, and the Palace of Governors, begun in 1448, later served as a barracks under the French and as a museum from 1908.

The Palace of Governors served as the administrative seat of Genoese rule and remains a visual anchor in the old town. Visitors can sense how decisions made within these walls shaped the region's development for centuries.

The site sits in the upper town and is accessible on foot but involves steep paths and uneven ground. Visit during milder months when the terrain is less slippery and easier to navigate safely.

On the west face of the ramparts, near the small shops by the Porte Louis XVI, a gallows bracket is still visible, a reminder that the citadel also served as a place of justice. The governors' palace held the courts and a prison until the end of Genoese rule.