Holidays in Piana
Welcome to Piana !
The village of Piana is halfway between Ajaccio and Calvi, 12 kilometres from Porto.
At 440 metres altitude, Piana dominates the Gulf of Porto, facing the peninsulas of Scandola (a famous nature reserve) and Senino. Piana is one of the most beautiful places in Corsica and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
With its white-walled houses arranged in the shape of an amphitheatre, typical windows and flower-bedecked balconies, Piana is one of the « Loveliest Villages in France ».
The delightful villages of narrow, winding streets was founded in 1725 and its current population is less than 500.
The beautiful, Italian Baroque-style church of Sainte-Marie à l’Assomption (Santa Maria Assunta) was built between 1765 and 1792. Its pink and white façade is just a taste of what is to come as the interior of the church is truly remarkable : magnificent frescoes, a 17th century painting of Saint-Hugo of Lincoln and an 18th century carved wooden statue of the Virgin of the Assumption (both listed monuments).
Sight-seeing in Piana
Absolutely essential, impressive, majestic… there is no shortage of words to describe the red porphyritic rocks which constitute the Calanques de Piana rocky inlets.
Each element offers an unforgettable sight to visitors - seagulls, cormorants and sea eagles fly through the air, the land is covered with a remarkable example of maquis and the transparent water is home to rich marine life..
In and around Piana
There is no doubt whatsoever that your days will be very busy as there are so many cultural and natural attractions in and around Piana : Église de l’Assomption the late 18th century church at the heart of the village, Genoese Tower at the top of Capo Rosso, Capo Rosso nature conservation area, Forêt de Piana forest, Ficaghjola cove.
Piana is the starting point for many walks suitable for all the family through beautiful, unforgettable ochre and turquoise scenery.
A little extra… about Piana
Nobody can describe the Calanques de Piana better than Guy de Maupassant :
"I stopped in astonishment facing these amazing 400 metre high, strange pink granite rocks, twisted, eroded by the weather, blood-red in the dwindling twilight and taking on a myriad of shapes like fantasy figures from a fairy tale, petrified by some supernatural power."
In "Une vie" he described them thus : "They were peaks, columns, pinnacles, amazing figures shaped by time, the biting wind and sea spray. Up to three hundred metres high, thin, round, twisted, crooked, deformed, extraordinary, these amazing rocks looked like trees, plants, animals, monuments, monks wearing habits, horned devils, outrageous birds, a horde of monsters, a nightmarish menagerie, turned to stone by the will of some abominable God".
How to get to Piana
The village can be reached from the harbours and airports of Ajaccio and Calvi.
By road, Piana can be reached either along the coast road or from the interior via Corte.
