Patrimonio: Church Art, Wine and Guitar Festival

Patrimonio can be explored through several specific themes: the Église Saint-Martin, the painting in the Chapelle Sainte-Marie dite Santa Maria Assunta, the Statue-Menhir U Nativu, the Nuits de la Guitare, the AOP wines and the Conca d’Oru – Vignoble de Patrimonio – Golfe de Saint-Florent area. These themes range from church architecture and art to music and landscape. If you are looking for a hotel in Patrimonio, it may help to first decide what you want to focus on during your trip: architecture, sacred art, music, wine or landscape.

Church Architecture and Sacred Art

The Église Saint-Martin was built at the end of the 17th century. It has a single-nave church hall with a barrel vault; the window openings cut into this vault. “Single-nave” describes a church space with one main nave, while a barrel vault is a continuous vaulted ceiling. Together, these features describe both the form of the space and the design of the ceiling.

The Église Saint-Martin has been listed as a historic monument since 9 December 1939. The construction period and the listing mark different historical dates: the end of the 17th century refers to the period when it was built, while 1939 is the date it was listed. This makes it possible to understand the church both through its building history and through its later designation as a historic monument.

Another work of art is the painting in the Chapelle Sainte-Marie dite Santa Maria Assunta (Santa Maria). The 17th-century work was recently restored and is attributed to the painter Castiglione. It depicts the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with Saint Roch and Saint Martin. Unlike the Église Saint-Martin, where the focus is on the building’s design, here the focus is on a single painting, its subject and its attributed authorship.

Early History, Music and Landscape

The limestone Statue-Menhir U Nativu in Patrimonio dates from the 8th century BC. Its date provides a much earlier point of reference than the construction of the Église Saint-Martin in the late 17th century. Together, these two dates show the different periods that shape Patrimonio’s cultural themes: a prehistoric menhir and a church built in the modern era.

The Nuits de la Guitare was founded in Patrimonio in 1990. The international festival takes place there every year.

Culinary themes include the AOP Patrimonio wines of Corsica. They are available as red, rosé and white wines; the three wine colours offer a simple guide if wine is one of your travel interests. Also part of the picture is the Conca d’Oru – Vignoble de Patrimonio – Golfe de Saint-Florent landscape area, which received the Grand Site de France designation on 22 March 2017. This named area adds a landscape perspective to the individual cultural themes. Travel planning therefore brings together different points of interest: a single building or work of art, an annual music festival, three wine styles and an award for the named area.

Discover more destinations: Sant'andréa-Di-Cotone, Ortale, Santa-Lucia-Di-Moriani, Montegrosso, Santo-Pietro-Di-Tenda, Moltifao, Pietracorbara, Pianello.

For the broader travel overview: Haute-Corse.