Maison Bonaparte

The Maison Bonaparte is the house in Ajaccio where Napoleon Bonaparte was born on 15 August 1769, and it stands in the old town, on the Rue Saint-Charles, a short walk from the harbour. It is a tall, plain, pale stone town house, not a palace, and that modesty is part of its interest: the Bonapartes were a respected Corsican family of modest wealth, and the house shows the world from which an emperor emerged. The family had lived in the house since the late seventeenth century, and over generations they enlarged and altered it, adding rooms as their fortunes allowed.

In the years of the French Revolution, the house became caught up in the political quarrels of Corsica. Pasquale Paoli, the island's leader, had fallen out with the Bonapartes, and in 1793 the family had to flee Corsica for France. Their house was ransacked and damaged in the aftermath, and later it was repaired and its contents restored as the family regained influence. After Napoleon rose to power, his mother Letizia lived there for a time, and the house passed through the family until it was handed over to the French state in the twentieth century. It became a national museum, and the rooms now show the family's belongings.

A visit leads through the rooms on several floors. Period furniture, portraits, engravings, family documents and mementos from the time of the First Empire give an idea of daily life in eighteenth-century Ajaccio and of the family's later fortunes. The rooms are arranged to suggest the setting of a Corsican bourgeois household, with a staircase, a salon and bedrooms, and visitors can see where Napoleon spent his childhood before leaving the island for military school in France at the age of nine. The tour is short and personal, more about family history than about battles, so it suits those who want a human view of a famous name.

The house sits in a part of the city that is full of related sights. The Fondation Fesch and its Palais Fesch, built by Napoleon's uncle, hold a fine collection of Italian paintings, and the Citadelle d'Ajaccio stands on the seafront. The Marché d'Ajaccio, in the morning, gives a taste of everyday life, and farther out the Sentier des Douaniers coastal path and the beach at Capo di Feno offer a break from the town.

Plan on about an hour. It suits history lovers and families. Opening hours, prices and booking rules change with the season, so check the official website before visiting.