Idea #356 – Visiting the islands of les Sanguinaires in Corse du Sud
The archipelago of the Bloodthirsty (in Corsican : Ì suli Sanguinarii) consists of four islands in the entrance( of the gulf of Ajaccio: Mezzu Mare (or Grande Sanguinaire), Cormorants (or Isolotto), and Alga, and Porri. According to the most likely hypothesis, their naming would be diverted from their Latin name ” Sagonares insulae ” or literally ” the islands which announce Sagone “, place-name which appears on a map dated 1595. The lighthouse of the Sanguinaires Islands, dating 1870, is built on the peak of the Grande Sanguinaire, in 80 meters over the sea level. It would occupy the location of a watchtower of the XVIth century, today destroyed. Further south, we can observe a old semaphore. In the southwest extremity is the Genoese tower of Parata, built in 1608, on the point of the same name, which is a part of the Network of the big sites of France. Travelers’ numerous narratives, among which one of the most famous is the one of Alphonse Daudet in the book “les Lettres de mon moulin” and entitled “Le Phare des Sanguinaires”, evoke tracks of life on these wild islands. Four islands are a maritime classified site Natura on 2000, haven of peace for species of sea birds as the gull leucophée and the puffin, as well as a nature reserve for a flora rich in rare and endemic species.
Where is it ?
Île Sanguinaires, Corse du Sud, France
