Coach every other day; fare, 5 francs; time, 4 hours.
Thirty-one and a half m. N.W., by a picturesque road up the
course of the Tavignano, passing Cateraggio, 2 m., Rotani, 5 m.,
commencement of bridle path leading N. to Tallone, 7½ m., Tox,
9½ m., Campo, 11 m., and Moïta, 12½ m. Seven m. farther up the main
road a ramification extends N. to Giuncaggio, 4½ m., and to
Pancheraccia, 5½ m.
Up the main road, 21½ m. from Aleria, and near the bridge across
the Vecchio, a bridle path strikes off S. to Rospigliani, 5 m., and
Vezzani, 6½ m. A little higher a ramification extends 5 m. W. to
Serraggio (p. 8). The road, after passing several other ramifications
with the Corté and Ajaccio road, arrives at Corté, p. 8.
Ten m. W. from Aleria are the cold saline sulphurous springs of
Puzzichello, 190 ft., considered efficacious in the cure of
syphilitic diseases, resembling in this property the water of Aulus
in the Pyrenees. See Black's _South France_, West Half (Pyrenees).
[Headnote: PRUNETE.--CERVIONE.--ALESANI.]
miles from BONIFACIO
miles to BASTIA
{79}{24}
PRUNETE. _Inn:_ Gaetan. Junction with road to Ponte alla Leccia, 44 m.
N.W. (p. 9), leading through a region of chestnut trees and past many
villages on the mountains, built chiefly on terraces. A coach runs from
the station to Alesani called also Castagneto 1938 ft. 14 m. W.;
ascending by Muchieto 808 ft. 3¾ m., Cervione 1073 ft. 4½ m., pop.
1000; _Inns:_ France: Voyageurs: an untidy village, once the capital
of King Theodore's realm. From Cervione the road describes a long
detour to the bridge across the Chebbia, whence it ascends to Cotone
1008 ft 6¼ m., the Col d'Aja 1236 ft., and Ortale 1489 ft., 1¾ m.
from Alesani. Good red wine is made in the neighbourhood of
Cervione. The dirty little village of Castagneto or Alesani is
picturesquely situated on the side of a mountain overlooking a
valley covered with chestnut trees. The diligence stops at an inn,
where bread, eggs and coffee with goats' milk can be had and a
comfortable bed. A char-a-banc from this inn to Piedicroce (Orezza)
costs 10 frs., time 2½ hours, 11 miles. For Orezza, see p. 34.
Passengers from Prunete to Piedicroce or Stazzona should not stop at
Cervione but continue the diligence route to Castagneto, whence
start next morning. The drive between Castagneto and Piedicroce, 11
miles, is by far the most beautiful part of the road. The highest
part of the Col d'Arcarotta is a narrow ridge between the valleys of
Orezza and Ortia, commanding a charming view. See also p. 35.
{87¼}{24¾}
PADULELLA. Four and a quarter miles west by a good road is San Nicolao,
pop. 600.
[Headnote: STAZZONA.]
{84¼}{18¾}
FOLELLI-Orezza station. Junction with road to Piedicroce 14¼ m. S.W.;
by the course of the Fium'alto, the Chestnut country, and the
village of Stazzona, 13¼ m. from Folelli, ¼ m. from and 355 ft.
under Piedicroce, and 1 m. from and 200 ft. above the spring of
Orezza. The coach from the station stops at Stazzona, pop. 250.
_Hotels_: *Paix, Casino. Very fine oleanders in the gardens. On the
opposite side of the valley of the Fium'alto is Granajola, with the
establishment Manfredi, 2016 ft. above the sea and 220 feet above
the spring. The hotel Manfredi has the most select society, is the
largest house, and its road from the spring is the least dusty; but
as no public coach goes there it is necessary to hire a private
conveyance either at Stazzona or Piedicroce, 3 or 4 miles. The
charge in all the hotels is 7 frs. per day, not including coffee or
tea in the morning. The hotels of Stazzona and the hotel Manfredi
are the most convenient for the Spa drinkers; those of Piedicroce
are too distant.
[Headnote: OREZZA.]
The Orezza spring is in the centre of a small terrace in the narrow
valley of the Fium'alto, whose steep banks are covered with chestnut
trees, and ascended by dusty winding roads. The water is a
bicarbonate chalybeate, with an agreeable amount of free carbonic
acid gas.
[Headnote: VESCOVATO.]
{89}{14}
VESCOVATO STATION. Town 1¼ m. W., pop. 1500.
*H. de Progreso in the large "Place" where all the coaches stop,
near a fountain of pure gushing water, cold even in summer. The
rather untidy town of Vescovato is almost hidden in the corner of a
valley, 550 ft. above the sea, by woods of vigorous olive and
chestnut trees. From it a coach starts daily to Porta, 15 m. W., by
a bad, dusty, jolting road, passing through Venzolasca, pop. 1300,
on the top of a hill, 732 ft., 1½ m. from Vescovato. Three m.
farther a road, left, 1 m., leads to Porri, 1718 ft., pop. 300.
7½ m. from Vescovato is the Col S. Agostino, and then follow, 8 m.,
Silvareccio, 2198 ft., pop. 550; 8½ m., Piano, 2230 ft., pop. 170;
Casabianca, 4 m. farther, 2133 ft.; and then Porta, pop. 630; _Inn:_
H. Franceschi, in the "Place," opposite the church, where the coach
stops. In July and August the coach goes on to Piedicroce.
{91}{12}
PONT DU GOLO. A little more than 3 miles from the bridge, at the mouth
of the river, stood the town of Mariana, founded by Marius (B. 155, D.
86 B.C.), where Seneca most probably spent his exile, and of which there
remain only a few insignificant fragments on the beach. In the vicinity
are the ruins of a chapel, and about a mile farther those of the church,
called La Canonica, with 2 aisles and a nave 100 feet long and 40 wide,
ornamented with rows of pillars of the Doric order. Both church and
chapel are in the Pisan style.
At Casamozza Station, 12½ m. S. from Bastia, the Aleria railway joins
the one from Corté.
{103}
BASTIA. See p. 10.
Ponte alla Leccia to Piedicroce.
Eighteen miles S.E. by "Courrier" daily. Fare 3 frs. Time 5 hours,
by a mountain road, making immense circuits round by the heads of
ravines among rich pastures and great chestnut and beech trees.
Nine miles from the Ponte is Morosaglia, pop. 1060, with an inn,
where the coach stops. A conglomeration of hamlets on the slopes of
a mountain, one of which, Stretta, was the birthplace of Pascal
Paoli. 2 m. farther is the summit of the Col de Prato with an inn,
3215 ft., 2850 ft. below, or 3 hours from the top of San Pietro,
commanding a magnificent view of the Castagniccia or the Chestnut
country, and the islands of Monte Christo, Pianosa, and Elba,
floating in the haze between sky and water. See map on fly-leaf.
[Headnote: CASTAGNICCIA.]
The Castagniccia may be said to lie between the Golo and the
Tavignano, bounded on the W. by the railway. The chestnut trees are
not so famous for their size as for the qualify of their fruit.