Vacances en corse - aller en Corse
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Where is Corsica ?
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Corsica is one of the Mediterranean’s largest islands, it is said that it is a mountain in the sea, boasting 1000 km of coast (where the sea depth can at times reach 2500m) and some 120 peaks at a height of between 2000 and 2700m; it honours its name “Ile de Beauté” through the luminosity of its contrasts and the intensity of its landscapes. It covers an 8748m2 surface area and is situated at about 160 km from the South of France, 82 km from Tuscany and 12 km from Sardinia. Its sand amongst the finest, its rivers flowing down from the mountains, the diversity of its landscapes, the wealth of its protected wildlife (thanks, among other things, to the first regional nature park covering land and sea), its numerous ancestral hiking paths, make of Corsica an island where discovery is permanent, where pleasure is within reach, where poetry accompanies you every step of the way…….a visit is a must.
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Its Climate
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A few figures…Over 2700 hours of sunlight per year. Average temperature 29°C, water temperature of 25°C, in August.
This means an average yearly temperature of over 20°C, the sea being over 17°C. Here, each micro-region has its own climate but the main characteristics are high sunshine exposure, an exceptional luminosity added to a limited amount of rainy days. The island presents 3 main climates: maritime Mediterranean in the valleys, mountain and high altitude Mediterranean. The coast enjoys a particularly hot summer, the autumn and winter being temperate. Winter, from December to March is surprisingly mild. Inland everything changes as one rises in altitude: the hot and dry summer brings with it nights that are often cool, and winter is nothing short of alpine with its hard winter and a snowfall that enable the practising of winter sports
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Average temperatures
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Jan |
Fév |
Mars |
Avril |
Mai |
Juin |
Juil |
Aout |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Déc |
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Air
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13.2 |
13.8 |
15.1 |
17.6 |
20.8 |
24.6 |
27.5 |
27.7 |
25.4 |
21.8 |
17.4 |
14.5 |
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Eau
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13 |
13 |
13 |
14 |
17 |
20 |
24 |
25 |
23 |
21 |
18 |
15 |
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Source : Tourist Agencies
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Its relief and vegetation
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The island’s relief impresses anyone setting eyes on it for the first time. An arrival by plane justifies this island’s description: A mountain in the sea. Numerous fine sandy beaches run alongside the valleys the summits of which often tower at over 2000 metres, and where torrents, cirques and glacial lakes abound.
From all this originates a startling contrast and depth that inspires freedom. The vegetation, forest or scrub, everywhere present, also takes part in this diversity.
It is a fact that the forests offer an extremely varied cover, the colours of which change to the rhythm of the seasons: various kinds of oaks: green, cork so typical of the Mediterranean environment, the beech tree and the Lariccio pine, the Corsican alder, the junipers and the fir tree cover the hills and mountains of the island.
The multitude of landscapes, the stirring natural contrasts, the unique luminosity make this island a place of permanent and enchanting discovery
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A little history
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The coasts of Corsica were formed 3 million years B.C. as the central mountains rose. A testimony to human presence is acknowledged towards 6000 B.C. and numerous traces of this presence can be visited today on the various prehistoric sites of the island. Starting with the Torreans who left menhir-statues to antiquity and the Greek and Roman invasions, and to Christianisation of which Romanesque churches are living witnesses, neighbouring Mediterranean peoples have invaded Corsica throughout history.
Genoa remains the one invader which has left the most architectural proof of its presence as Corsica remained under its domination for 2 centuries up to the Corsican Revolutions which were to result in the election of Pasquale Paoli, general of the nation, and the wording of the first constitution elaborated together with Rousseau. Subsequently because of Genoa’s poor economic situation, Corsica became French. In 1789, just after the French revolution, the National Assembly declared Corsica part and parcel of the nation. Under Napoleon the island was united into a single regional administrative zone.
The 19th century was a pre-industrial period making possible the first steamboat shuttle between Corsica and the continent, as well as the construction of the Bastia/Ajaccio road and that of the railway. In the 20th century, poverty forced thousands of islanders into exile by joining the army or the colonial administration. The island saw more than 20000 of its young men killed during the First World War, a loss which deepened a demographical deficit which, added to forced exile, accentuated the deficit still very real nowadays if one considers that the island only has 250 000 inhabitants.
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