CorsicaDiscover the Alta Rocca

With 40% of the land protected by a Regional Nature Park, Corsica is often called the ‘Isle of Beauty’, a worthy epithet as beyond the fabulous coastline, the hinterland has its own spectacular scenery. Down in the south, just inland from the popular resorts, the Alta Rocca is one of these lovely mountain regions laced in walking trails with only a couple of minor roads winding their way across the land. Up there time seems to stand still.

Forests rich in oak and chestnut trees, lofty Laricio pines, pastures, tumbling streams and dramatic rocks, this is a paradise for all nature lovers. Red kites soar in the thermals and there are peregrine falcons, golden eagles and bearded vultures with a mighty wingspan. Nuthatches splash colour in the trees, lizards and salamanders scamper along the tracks, wild cats and boars forage here and there. Meanwhile deer graze in the shade but the mouflons with long horns like to perch on the most inaccessible rocks, basking in the bright Mediterranean sun. Flowers and plants vary with the altitude but favourites include myrtle and thyme, the delicate blue ancoli peeping out of rocky crags and the wild sweet-scented immortelle.

The Alta Rocca starts in Ospedale, the first mountain village at 900 metres, then stretches north towards the Bavella pass where at 1,218 metres one enjoys superb views of the pink rocky ‘needles’ by the same name. This is on the old transhumance route and the nearby trails invite you to explore further. It’s an awesome spot protected by the statue of Our Lady of the Snows, installed with great difficulty by local monks.

It may feel like the roof of the world but besides its natural wonders, the Alta Rocca is a land of hilltop villages where traditions survive on the ‘heritage trail’. On the western edge, Sainte Lucie de Tallano is a lively little place, all granite houses and cobbled lanes with convent and church, old bread ovens, oil mill and nearby thermal springs in their natural settings. Then there’s Levie and its Alta Rocca museum and the ‘coutellerie’ where traditional Corsican knives are still made in various shapes and sizes. Yet this pretty village has other claims to fame for if you feel like a walk, a trail can lead you to the archaeological site of Cucuruzzu dating back to the Bronze Age. It’s quiet and atmospheric, dotted with remnants of walls, tower and storing areas. According to historians however, the Alta Rocca has 9,000 years of history, making it one of the oldest inhabited districts in Corsica.

At just over 300 metres, the village of Sartène can vouch for that, with a museum of prehistory, nearby dolmens and menhirs and gateway to the highlands, once known as the Land of the Lords. Enjoy the local wine then, as you wander through stepped alleyways and narrow lanes framed by granite hills, you may well agree that as the locals say, Sartène is ‘the most Corsican of all Corsican villages’.