Palais Fesch

The Palais Fesch is the main fine arts museum of Corsica and one of the richest collections of Italian painting in France outside Paris. It stands in the old quarter of Ajaccio, on the Rue Cardinal Fesch, and it takes its name from Cardinal Joseph Fesch, the half-brother of Napoleon's mother, Letizia Bonaparte, and therefore the uncle of the emperor. Born in Ajaccio in 1763, Fesch trained for the church, rose rapidly under his nephew and became archbishop of Lyon and a cardinal. Living in Rome after the fall of the empire, he spent his fortune on art and put together one of the largest private collections of paintings in Europe, mostly Italian, with thousands of pictures.

Fesch wished to give his native city a museum and a school of fine arts, and before his death in 1839 he left a large part of his collection to Ajaccio. The building that holds the museum was constructed between 1827 and 1837. Many of the original works were sold by Fesch and by his heirs, so the collection is smaller than it once was, but it remains remarkable. It is arranged chronologically, beginning with Italian Primitives of the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, with gold-ground altarpieces, and continuing through the Renaissance and Baroque, with works from Florence, Venice, Bologna and Rome, among them a celebrated Madonna by Botticelli. The later galleries include French painting and works by Corsican artists up to the twentieth century.

The museum also contains the Imperial Chapel, built in the nineteenth century as a burial place for the Bonaparte family, which is accessible in summer, and where Cardinal Fesch himself lies. The chapel, in a neo-Renaissance style, has a crypt with the tombs of members of the family, so a visit adds a link to the imperial story. The museum is accessible for visitors with reduced mobility, and wheelchairs are available on request. Bags are checked at the entrance, and large luggage is not allowed.

Ticket prices and opening hours vary by season, with longer days from May to October, and the museum is closed on certain days at the start of the year, so check the schedule. Allow one to two hours.

The museum suits art lovers, anyone interested in Napoleon and his family, and visitors who want a break from the beach. In Ajaccio the Maison Bonaparte, the house where Napoleon was born, the Citadelle d'Ajaccio and the market are close, and coastal paths lead along the bay.