Rogliano, Haute-Corse
Encyclopedia
Rogliano is a commune
in the Haute-Corse
department of France
on the island of Corsica
.
It is the seat of Capobianco Canton, which it shares with Barrettali
, Cagnano
, Centuri
, Ersa
, Luri
, Meria
, Morsiglia
, Pino
and Tomino
. The people of Rogliano are called Roglianais, feminine Roglianaises.
Administratively, Rogliano replaces two historic communes, San-Columbano to the south and Chiapella to the north.
at the northeast corner of Cap Corse. The commune is actually a cluster of eight hamlets on the slopes and heights of Monte Poggio above Macinaggio Bay, the one from which the commune takes its name being located 7 kilometres (4 mi) up a winding road from the port, the Chemin de l'Imperatrice (Route D80), which is named after the empress, Eugénie
. Forced to stop there by a storm in 1869 she found the road so bad she personally ordered it reconstructed. The other hamlets are Bettolacce, Olivo, Magna, Soprana, Vignale, Sottana and Campiano.
The commune borders the sea to the north and to the east. On the east coast is Macinaggio Bay, including a marina of 585 moorings for pleasure boats (of which 255 are for transients and the others for wintering over), a nautical club and a diving school. A little to the north, Tamarone Bay opens on the small Finocchiarola ("Fennel
") Islands. They are protected by the Réserve Naturelle du Conservatoire du Littorala, a nature reserve, especially for safeguarding the rare Audouin's Gull
and Cory's Shearwater
, both of which breed there. It occupies about 654 hectares (1,616.1 acre).
The northeast corner of Cap Corse is accessible only by a footpath, the Sentier des Douaniers, heading north from the Plage de Tamarone. The coast is dotted with Genoese watchtowers: one on the outer Finocchiarola, one in the bay to the north, the Tour de Santa Maria, which sits in the water, and one on the 160 metres (524.9 ft) Pointe d'Agnello, the Tour d'Agnello, from which Elba
can be seen in the distance. Small coves abound, which have traditionally been the entry points of smugglers, hence the name "path of the customs officers".
To the northwest the path traverses the Site Naturel de la Capandula with its sandy beaches and descends finally to the small fishing village of Barcaggio, which is also reached by a winding road. Off its coast is the island of Giraglia, the site of another Genoese watchtower and a modern (from an ancient) lighthouse marking the location of Cap Corse.
s and other remains have been found with pebbles that could be interpreted as flakes and cores, fireplace sites and an ovate structure; that is, the most likely interpretation is that this is a site of the Middle Paleolithic
, the first evidence of Early Stone Age occupation.
. Macinaggio was a Roman naval base. The vines on the slopes have been shown to descend from Carthaginian
ones, which would have predated the Romans, but the presence of the vines does not necessarily indicate the presence of the people.
At the top of the promontory of Trois Pointes on which the hamlets of Rogliano are located, at a height of 603 metres (1,978.3 ft) is a tower and the remains of Castle Da Mare, home of a Genoese family that ruled the region from the 12th to the 16th centuries. Ansaldo da Mare, a Genoese admiral, was awarded the island of Capraia for his services to Henry VI
and Frederick II
, becoming the Signor ("Lord") of Capraia and in 1199 obtained Rogliano and started the castle. In 1200 he was made the Count of Corsica. In 1246 he purchased the rights of the Signoria di San Colombano from one of the other Genoese lords and set up the capital at the castle, now the Castello di San Colombano. Ansaldo continued to add villages of Cap Corse to it until his death in 1254. For the next 300 years or so the Da Mare's lived in the castle and provided the Signor di San Colombano.
In 1523, the Genoese nobleman, Marchese Francesco Negrone, Protector of the Bank of Saint George, married Giorgetta, the daughter of Giacomo-Santo da Mare, reigning Signor di San Colombano. Here occurs a historical ambiguity. A descendant of the Negrone's, Héctor Andrés Negroni
, a credible American historian, claims that the Signoria passed by dowry to the Negrone family at that point. However in 1552 King Henry II of France
annexed Corsica and in the resulting struggle Signor Giacomo-Santo da Mare di San Columbano brought forces to fight for Sampiero Corso, a Corsican in the employ of the French. When Corsica was returned to the Genoese by treaty in 1559 they struck back at those they considered traitors, destroying the castle at San Columbano, called then by a populace Castellacciu, "evil castle."
Francesco Negrone immediately began to build a new Castello near the old as Signor. Many questions are inherent in these circumstances. The modern Negrone makes no mention of the reason why the castle was destroyed if in fact the Negrone's were in it and were loyal to Genoa. Some accounts mention Giacomo-Santo I and Giacomo-Santo II. Giorgetta is typically made the daughter of Giacomo-Santo I, in which case she would have been the sister of Giacomo-Santo II, and the Negrone's were not sovereign yet as a result of the wedding. Some say she was the daughter of Giacomo-Santo II, but this does not solve the problem. Another account has her the co-Signor with Giacomo-Santo II, an unlikely scenario, as hereditary offices on Corsica were not generally split and the society was partilineal and patriarchal even though women were allowed to vote and to participate in the military. The most likely explanation is perhaps that in addition to burning the castle the Genoese disenrolled the traitor from his position and made Negroni Signor instead as husband of the next heir in line, Giorgetta.
The Negrone's remained loyal to Genoa. Pasquale Paoli
was unable to take the place and conducted naval operations from the small coves on the northeast coast. Hence when France purchased Corsica from Genoa and Paoli defeated having gone into exile leaving Corsica to become part of France in 1770, the Negrone's were invited in 1772 to enroll as members of the French nobility. The Signoria lasted until 1789. The Negrone's perhaps because of their isolated location appear to have escaped the terror and resulting massacre that fell on the nobility of France and they even kept their property on the hill but they were no longer signorial. The tower and the castle became of antiquarian interest only. In 1943 the castle burned in a grass fire, but most of the Negrone's had emigrated by then to France or to Yauco, Puerto Rico, whence the American branch.
In the 18th and 19th century a rise in population forced a heavy emigration of people from Cap Corse, including Rogliano, to South America
, Central America
and the Caribbean
. Those who became wealthy excavating for gold or planting and exporting coffee and sugar returned to Cap Corse to build colonial-style summer homes, now called the maisons d'Américains ("American houses").
utilized the harbor and the towers after 1761 because he could not capture Macinaggio from the Genoese. He did station his small fleet there and used it to capture the island of Capraia.
On Paoli's return from 21 years of exile in 1790, landing at Macinaggio he is said to have kissed the ground on which he stood and proclaimed that he left a slave but returned a free man. The words and event are commemorated by a plaque. Due to the course of history he was able to retain neither the sentiment nor the island residency.
Rogliano has served also as a commercial port and was the chief fishing port of Corsica in 1865.
towers:
A number of windmills are shared with the neighboring commune of Ersa
. Featuring 20 Nordex propellors of 43 metres (141.1 ft) diameter.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Haute-Corse
Haute-Corse
Haute-Corse is a French department. It constitutes the northern part of the island of Corsica.- History :The department was formed on 15 September 1975, when the department of Corse was divided into Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud...
department of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
on the island of Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
.
It is the seat of Capobianco Canton, which it shares with Barrettali
Barrettali
Barrettali is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.Among the villages in the commune is the hamlet of Minerbio.-Population:-References:*...
, Cagnano
Cagnano
Cagnano is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Centuri
Centuri, Haute-Corse
Centuri is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Ersa
Ersa, Haute-Corse
Ersa is a commune of the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Geography:Ersa is the northernmost commune of Corsica. It extends from Centuri to the West, to Rogliano to the East. Ersa is covered with shrubs and arid summits...
, Luri
Luri, Haute-Corse
Luri is a commune of the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-History:Luri has been tentatively identified as the Lurinum of Ptolemy both by similarity of name and because of Castellu di Luri, a Roman-style fortification occupied from the third century BC to the 1st century AD...
, Meria
Meria
Meria is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Morsiglia
Morsiglia
Morsiglia is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
, Pino
Pino, Haute-Corse
Pino is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
and Tomino
Tomino
Tomino is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-References:*...
. The people of Rogliano are called Roglianais, feminine Roglianaises.
Administratively, Rogliano replaces two historic communes, San-Columbano to the south and Chiapella to the north.
Geography
Rogliano is 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) to the north of BastiaBastia
Bastia is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It is also the second-largest city in Corsica after Ajaccio and the capital of the department....
at the northeast corner of Cap Corse. The commune is actually a cluster of eight hamlets on the slopes and heights of Monte Poggio above Macinaggio Bay, the one from which the commune takes its name being located 7 kilometres (4 mi) up a winding road from the port, the Chemin de l'Imperatrice (Route D80), which is named after the empress, Eugénie
Eugénie de Montijo
Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox-Portocarrero de Guzmán y Kirkpatrick, 16th Countess of Teba and 15th Marquise of Ardales; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo , was the last Empress consort of the French from 1853 to 1871 as the wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of...
. Forced to stop there by a storm in 1869 she found the road so bad she personally ordered it reconstructed. The other hamlets are Bettolacce, Olivo, Magna, Soprana, Vignale, Sottana and Campiano.
The commune borders the sea to the north and to the east. On the east coast is Macinaggio Bay, including a marina of 585 moorings for pleasure boats (of which 255 are for transients and the others for wintering over), a nautical club and a diving school. A little to the north, Tamarone Bay opens on the small Finocchiarola ("Fennel
Fennel
Fennel is a plant species in the genus Foeniculum . It is a member of the family Apiaceae . It is a hardy, perennial, umbelliferous herb, with yellow flowers and feathery leaves...
") Islands. They are protected by the Réserve Naturelle du Conservatoire du Littorala, a nature reserve, especially for safeguarding the rare Audouin's Gull
Audouin's Gull
The Audouin's Gull is a large gull restricted to the Mediterranean and the western coast of Saharan Africa. It breeds on small islands colonially or alone, laying 2-3 eggs on a ground nest...
and Cory's Shearwater
Cory's Shearwater
The Cory's Shearwater is a large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae.This species breeds on islands and cliffs in the Mediterranean, with the odd outpost on the Atlantic coast of Iberia. The nest is on open ground or among rocks or less often in a burrow where one white egg is laid,...
, both of which breed there. It occupies about 654 hectares (1,616.1 acre).
The northeast corner of Cap Corse is accessible only by a footpath, the Sentier des Douaniers, heading north from the Plage de Tamarone. The coast is dotted with Genoese watchtowers: one on the outer Finocchiarola, one in the bay to the north, the Tour de Santa Maria, which sits in the water, and one on the 160 metres (524.9 ft) Pointe d'Agnello, the Tour d'Agnello, from which Elba
Elba
Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...
can be seen in the distance. Small coves abound, which have traditionally been the entry points of smugglers, hence the name "path of the customs officers".
To the northwest the path traverses the Site Naturel de la Capandula with its sandy beaches and descends finally to the small fishing village of Barcaggio, which is also reached by a winding road. Off its coast is the island of Giraglia, the site of another Genoese watchtower and a modern (from an ancient) lighthouse marking the location of Cap Corse.
Prehistory
North of the beach of Macinaggio at Point Coscia is a partially-collapsed, wave-cut grotto, La Grotte de la Coscia, containing dateable sedimentary layers. In one deposit of the Last glacial period, a tumulus of crania and antlers of Cervus cazioti and various lagomorphs, rodentRodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
s and other remains have been found with pebbles that could be interpreted as flakes and cores, fireplace sites and an ovate structure; that is, the most likely interpretation is that this is a site of the Middle Paleolithic
Middle Paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology. The Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age...
, the first evidence of Early Stone Age occupation.
The hillside
The name of the commune came from the Roman name Pagus Aurelianus, probably named after the good emperor, AurelianAurelian
Aurelian , was Roman Emperor from 270 to 275. During his reign, he defeated the Alamanni after a devastating war. He also defeated the Goths, Vandals, Juthungi, Sarmatians, and Carpi. Aurelian restored the Empire's eastern provinces after his conquest of the Palmyrene Empire in 273. The following...
. Macinaggio was a Roman naval base. The vines on the slopes have been shown to descend from Carthaginian
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
ones, which would have predated the Romans, but the presence of the vines does not necessarily indicate the presence of the people.
At the top of the promontory of Trois Pointes on which the hamlets of Rogliano are located, at a height of 603 metres (1,978.3 ft) is a tower and the remains of Castle Da Mare, home of a Genoese family that ruled the region from the 12th to the 16th centuries. Ansaldo da Mare, a Genoese admiral, was awarded the island of Capraia for his services to Henry VI
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...
and Frederick II
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick II , was one of the most powerful Holy Roman Emperors of the Middle Ages and head of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, and even to Jerusalem, were enormous...
, becoming the Signor ("Lord") of Capraia and in 1199 obtained Rogliano and started the castle. In 1200 he was made the Count of Corsica. In 1246 he purchased the rights of the Signoria di San Colombano from one of the other Genoese lords and set up the capital at the castle, now the Castello di San Colombano. Ansaldo continued to add villages of Cap Corse to it until his death in 1254. For the next 300 years or so the Da Mare's lived in the castle and provided the Signor di San Colombano.
In 1523, the Genoese nobleman, Marchese Francesco Negrone, Protector of the Bank of Saint George, married Giorgetta, the daughter of Giacomo-Santo da Mare, reigning Signor di San Colombano. Here occurs a historical ambiguity. A descendant of the Negrone's, Héctor Andrés Negroni
Hector Andres Negroni
Colonel Héctor Andrés Negroni is a historian, senior aerospace defense executive, author and the first Puerto Rican graduate of the United States Air Force Academy...
, a credible American historian, claims that the Signoria passed by dowry to the Negrone family at that point. However in 1552 King Henry II of France
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
annexed Corsica and in the resulting struggle Signor Giacomo-Santo da Mare di San Columbano brought forces to fight for Sampiero Corso, a Corsican in the employ of the French. When Corsica was returned to the Genoese by treaty in 1559 they struck back at those they considered traitors, destroying the castle at San Columbano, called then by a populace Castellacciu, "evil castle."
Francesco Negrone immediately began to build a new Castello near the old as Signor. Many questions are inherent in these circumstances. The modern Negrone makes no mention of the reason why the castle was destroyed if in fact the Negrone's were in it and were loyal to Genoa. Some accounts mention Giacomo-Santo I and Giacomo-Santo II. Giorgetta is typically made the daughter of Giacomo-Santo I, in which case she would have been the sister of Giacomo-Santo II, and the Negrone's were not sovereign yet as a result of the wedding. Some say she was the daughter of Giacomo-Santo II, but this does not solve the problem. Another account has her the co-Signor with Giacomo-Santo II, an unlikely scenario, as hereditary offices on Corsica were not generally split and the society was partilineal and patriarchal even though women were allowed to vote and to participate in the military. The most likely explanation is perhaps that in addition to burning the castle the Genoese disenrolled the traitor from his position and made Negroni Signor instead as husband of the next heir in line, Giorgetta.
The Negrone's remained loyal to Genoa. Pasquale Paoli
Pasquale Paoli
Filippo Antonio Pasquale di Paoli , was a Corsican patriot and leader, the president of the Executive Council of the General Diet of the People of Corsica...
was unable to take the place and conducted naval operations from the small coves on the northeast coast. Hence when France purchased Corsica from Genoa and Paoli defeated having gone into exile leaving Corsica to become part of France in 1770, the Negrone's were invited in 1772 to enroll as members of the French nobility. The Signoria lasted until 1789. The Negrone's perhaps because of their isolated location appear to have escaped the terror and resulting massacre that fell on the nobility of France and they even kept their property on the hill but they were no longer signorial. The tower and the castle became of antiquarian interest only. In 1943 the castle burned in a grass fire, but most of the Negrone's had emigrated by then to France or to Yauco, Puerto Rico, whence the American branch.
In the 18th and 19th century a rise in population forced a heavy emigration of people from Cap Corse, including Rogliano, to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
, Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. Those who became wealthy excavating for gold or planting and exporting coffee and sugar returned to Cap Corse to build colonial-style summer homes, now called the maisons d'Américains ("American houses").
The coastline
The harbor of Santa Maria features a church, the Chapelle Santa Maria, which was begun in the 6th century AD and rebuilt in the 10th and 12th centuries. The Genoese Tour de Santa Maria with its feet in the water dates to the 16th century. Pasquale PaoliPasquale Paoli
Filippo Antonio Pasquale di Paoli , was a Corsican patriot and leader, the president of the Executive Council of the General Diet of the People of Corsica...
utilized the harbor and the towers after 1761 because he could not capture Macinaggio from the Genoese. He did station his small fleet there and used it to capture the island of Capraia.
On Paoli's return from 21 years of exile in 1790, landing at Macinaggio he is said to have kissed the ground on which he stood and proclaimed that he left a slave but returned a free man. The words and event are commemorated by a plaque. Due to the course of history he was able to retain neither the sentiment nor the island residency.
Rogliano has served also as a commercial port and was the chief fishing port of Corsica in 1865.
Population
Genoese towers
On the territory of Rogliano are four GenoeseGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
towers:
- Torra d'AgnelluTorra d'AgnelluThe Torra d'Agnellu is a Genoese tower in Corsica, located in the commune of Rogliano .The Torra d'Agnellu was built at the end of the 16th century.It is one of the Official Historical Monuments of France.-Notes and references:...
- Torra di FinochjarolaTorra di FinochjarolaThe Torra di Finochjarola is a Genoese tower in Corsica, located on the Finacchiarola island, in the commune of Rogliano .It is one of the Official Historical Monuments of France.-Notes and references:...
- Torra di RoglianuTorra di RoglianuThe Torra di Roglianu is a Genoese tower in Corsica, located in the commune of Rogliano, Haute-Corse in the Cap Corse.It is one of the Official Historical Monuments of France since 1935.The tower was built in 1524 by Francesco de Negroni....
- Torra di Santa Maria ChjapellaTorra di Santa Maria ChjapellaThe Torra di Santa Maria Chjapella is a Genoese tower in Corsica, located in the commune of Rogliano, Haute-Corse.It is one of the Official Historical Monuments of France.-Notes and references:...
Economy
The commune includes 40 hectares (98.8 acre) of vines, which are used in the production of wine.A number of windmills are shared with the neighboring commune of Ersa
Ersa
In Greek mythology, Ersa is the goddess of dew and the daughter of Zeus and the Moon , sister of Pandia and half-sister to Endymion's 50 daughters....
. Featuring 20 Nordex propellors of 43 metres (141.1 ft) diameter.