Ajaccio is the capital of the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, home to 71,000 people (2019). It is a sun-kissed tourist town with frequent visits by cruise ships. It has a boardwalk along its attractive coastline and lots of Napoleon-related sites.
Although the coastline of Ajaccio and its natural harbour was almost certainly visited many times in antiquity, the development of a proper city did not happen until the late 1400s when the Genoese built a citadel that still stands to this day and serves as a military installation for the French army.
After most of Corsica was conquered by the French in the 1700s, Ajaccio remained a Genoese territory until the late 1760s.
Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleone di Buonaparte) was born in Ajaccio in 1769 just after the city became the capital of Corsica. Although from mostly Italian-Corsican heritage, Napoleon rose through the ranks of the French military to become the leader of France and then Emperor. For a time he also ruled most of Europe.
Ajaccio was one of the last cities to become French in Europe, but it was the first French city to be liberated in 1943 following the fall of the Third Republic in 1940.
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