Algajola
Algajola is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica. The inhabitants of the commune are known as "Algajolais" or "Algajolaises" Geography. Algajola is a commune on the Balagne coast between Calvi, 12 km to the west, and Ile Rousse, 10 km to the East. It is one of 19 communes in the Canton of Belgodère and not to those of Calvi or Ile Rousse as its location would suggest. It is part of the arrondissement of Calvi. Relief. The commune occupies a small area of 172 hectares on the coast bisected by  small hills oriented north-south, the highest is a "saddle" straddling Algajola and Aregno which rises to 288m. To the west of the hills, Tebina is a flat area and Cocani covers the hillsides down to the resort. On both sides of the hills their slopes were once covered with maquis then were turned into terraces to cultivate strips of land. For a long time the maquis here consisted mainly of cistus and mastic, oaks and some wild olive trees which reestablished themselves on the abandoned terraces. One small stream, unnamed on maps, rises in the commune at Tepina  and empties into the port of San Damiano. Boundaries. The borders of Algajola can be defined as follows: Habitat. Algajola was a small fishing port with a fort on the sea built with the concurrence of the neighbouring towns. Professional fishermen have almost disappeared and activities have turned to tourism. In a few decades the population of Algajola almost tripled although its territory is small. In summer, there are thousands of residents, Italian tourists, northern Europeans, and French people who come to visit this resort town with its fortress by the sea. The western part of the commune has the  marina of San Damiano. Access. Rail Access. The village is served by a CFC railway line. During the summer season, it is the "Trinighellu" stop on the beaches service from Calvi to L'Ile Rousse. Road access. There is a single road accessing the commune: the National Route N197. A parallel road accessing Aregno beach to the east starts from the roundabout which was opened in 2010 to the west allows access to the village by the sea. At the roundabout a road also leads to the fishing port/marina of San Damiano. History. Antiquity. Algajola was built on the site  of an ancient Phoenician city called "Argha". An etymology from a commune at Alghero on a similar site in Sardinia is possible. According to the historians Cluver and Canari, "CÆSIÆ littus" shown on the northern coast of Corsica by Ptolemy on his maps was Algajola. According to Müller it was the Gulf of Saint-Florent. Following his study, Xavier Poli excluded these hypotheses stating that: "Cæsiæ is clearly the beach on the Gulf of Calvi" because "littus" means "sandy beach". The Aregno beach that starts in the commune is equally sandy. Middle Ages. Algajola, according to Gabbiola (or Gabiola), was  in the old Pieve of Aregnu. Modern Times. From the 16th century to 1520 Balagne was a province of the Republic of Genoa. It was composed of the pieves of Tuani, Aregnu, Santo Andrea, Pino, and Olmia. The Pieve of Aregno had several populated places: Arpagiola (or Gabiola), Corbaia, Monticello, Santo Antonino, Santa Riparata, Piaza, Pragola, Le Torre, Regno, li Catari lo Lavatogio, Lacona, Spano, Hogio, and Aquapessa with a total of approximately 1,350 inhabitants. "Algaiola" was the administrative capital of the province of Balagne. A court for the nearby pièves was established there. A castle fortress was built shortly  before 1531 for the use of the "lieutenant" (luogotenente: he was the representative of the executive power at the head of a province) of the Office of Saint George and part the Genovese defensive system. Before the war that gave Henry II of France to the Genovese in Corsica, Algajola was a very minor fortress on the coast: "The village, now almost abandoned, was also very small since it had little more than twenty-five or thirty fires. Today there are even less. Even so it is very conveniently located as anyone going to the Piève of Balagne at Algajola  for business can come back at night to sleep in his house. It is without doubt that because of this convenience that the Office of Saint George chose this place to be the residence of the lieutenant in preference to many other more populated and perhaps healthier areas. There is a Franciscan monastery in this piève, a vast and remarkable site with its cool shadows, the goodness of water and the air, so good that at Rome or Genoa such a site would pay many thousands of écus". - Monseigneur Giustiniani in "Dialogo nominato Corsica", translation by Father Letteron in "History  of Corsica", Volume I, page 19 . Algajola during the French war against Genoa. In January 1555 Manomozzo, the Sergeant Sampiero was sent by Marshal de Thermes from Ajaccio with a hundred men - many Corsicans and some Gascons - to take Saint-Florent. Repelled by the Genovese, they retreated to Balagne and decided to take Algaiola - a small castle near the sea where a group of twenty-five Genovese soldiers were stationed. Using ladders forty men descended on the place. "The Genoese were stationed in a tower overlooking the house: they killed some with stones and Arquebuses while others surrendered and were  made prisoners. Only four or five were able to escape back up the ropes on which they had scaled down. There remained thirty-five men either dead or prisoners. The Gascons lost only their weapons and were released but the eight Corsican prisoners were taken to Calvi and hanged after suffering various tortures. This event took place during the month of January 1555. " - Marc' Antonio Ceccaldi in "Chronicle", translated by Father Letteron in "History of Corsica" - Volume II, page 169 . Shortly afterwards a French captain was sent from Ajaccio by Thermes with a galley and a cannon accompanied by plenty  of ammunition to support Manomozzo's troops. "The Captain in his galley fired a few shots of the castle, while Manomozzo fired on the ground with the cannon which had been landed there. Finding themselves surrounded, those in the castle were forced to surrender." - Father Letteron in "History of Corsica" Volume II page 170 . Thermes was carrying a large quantity of food to Algaiola with fifteen galleys he had brought from Marseilles. Two hundred Gascons in two companies were sent by Giordano Orsino to guard the large supplies of food that were being sent. Sampiero being absent from the island , people everywhere took up arms in favour of Genoa. Frightened, the Gascons fled without waiting for rescue and leaving the food to the Balanais who took a large quantity because the country suffered greatly from famine. Grechetto Giustiniano was sent by Quilico Spinola, the Commissioner and colonel of Signoria who commanded at Calvi, and arrived with his company to remove remaining food and transport it to Calvi. On arrival in Algaiola five French galleys sent by Giordano to prevent the Calvi troops from leaving. "On these galleys were five Gascon companies who landed on the shore. When they saw that  the Genovese soldiers took the food from Algaiola they barred the way. Surprised by such a sudden attack the Genovese fled and returned to Calvi." - Marc' Antonio Ceccaldi in "Chronicle", translated by Father Letteron in "History of Corsica" - Volume II, page 201 . The Genovese who were at Calvi however gave little rest to their enemies in the vicinity. On their departure from Balagne the French burned a few towers in villages favourable to the Genovese. When they were gone the Genoese came out in turn from Calvi and burned the towers remaining in villages who favoured the French, including that  of Francesco of Sant'Antonino and several others. They then razed the walls of Algaiola to their foundations to prevent the French from establishing themselves in the future. Genovese Algajola. In 1643 Arpagiola was taken and sacked by the Ottomans. The Barbary pirates also came to take their tribute of slaves. The Genovese who persisted in demanding the demolition of the towers and castles and prohibiting the carrying of weapons except on the coast where four rifles were permitted in Algajola. Two years later there was nothing but ruins. In 1664 Genoa did fortify the castle which remained the residence of  the Lieutenant until 1764. Algajola later became a community of the Pieve of Regino, one of the three pieves in the Regino Valley. Algajola during the great revolt against Genoa. Extracts from the Chronology written by Antoine Dominic Monti, president of the ADECEC, published by them in 1979 The French leave the island. The control of Algajola is again Genoese. Under the pretext of an exchange of prisoners between Genoa and Corsica, Marbeuf obtains an interview with Paoli. In fact the French commander wishes to maintain freedom of trade between the mandated areas and the interior. He obtains the opening  of markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays for his garrisons at the Caldano Tower at Lumio, for those at Calvi and Algajola. In 1789, the Pieve of Regino became the Canton of Algajola. Contemporary Period. In 1954 Algajola had only 138 inhabitants and belonged to the Canton of Muro which was composed of the communes of Algajola, Aregno, Avapessa, Cateri, Feliceto, Lavatoggio, Muro, Nessa, and Speloncato. 1971-1973: new cantons were created such as the Canton of Belgodère with the merger of the former cantons of Muro, Belgodère, and Olmi-Cappella. The electoral disputes of the commune are famous and have  been the subject of numerous court decisions. The current mayor is Mr. Maurice Pariggi, retired from public service. He is close to the Radical Left Party (he was 31st on the list "For Corsica in the Republic" in local elections in 2004, Zuccarelli Alfonsi list). Administration. List of Successive Mayors Economy. Algajola has become a popular small resort. Located in Balagne, one of the two tourist poles of Corsica, with a hinterland rich in villages and historic buildings and monuments, it is an idyllic experience for all lovers of the sea, sunsets, and good food.