Old Port of Bastia, seaport

The Old Port of Bastia, called A Marina by locals, is a marina in a small natural cove at the foot of the Tragone promontory and the citadel. Its north quay, A Sanità, was the first to be improved, and the Genoese mole, built from 1670, still shelters the basin. The south jetty, finished in 1863, carries the name Jetée du Dragon, a deformation of the Corsican tragone, meaning ravine.

The Genoese founded the Castello della Bastia in 1380, when the site was still a small fishing haven called Portu Cardu. Only in 1670 did they begin the Genoese mole, or Molu à a Madunnetta, named for a Virgin statue set in its wall. The south jetty was completed in 1863, the same year the Lion rock was razed to ease boat traffic.

Locals call the quarter A Marina, and the name refers to the space in front of the baroque church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, built between 1636 and 1666. Long before the quays, this was a sloping sandy beach where fishermen hauled up their boats. The north quay was the first to be fitted out and was known as A Sanità.

The harbor sits in the city center and is easy to reach on foot, with level ground accessible to all visitors. Parking is available nearby for drivers, and a channel about 100 meters long guides boats safely into the water.

The south quay, now Quai Albert Gillio, was until 1863 just a pile of rocks; the south jetty was finished that year and the Lion rock, which obstructed boats, was levelled. The jetty is also called Jetée du Dragon, a deformation of the Corsican tragone, the name of the promontory above the port where the citadel walls stand.