Welcome to Ile-Rousse

Ile-Rousse is waiting for you, at the heart of Balagne, on one of the most beautiful golf courses in Corsica for a moment of pure relaxation and unforgettable discoveries.

Take a moment at the Place Paoli village square, under the watchful eye of “Babbù” Pascal Paoli. Enjoy your time here, either sitting on the terrace of a café, or playing a game of petanque with friends and avid players, in the shade of the hundred-year-old plane trees.

Head off for a walk along the A Marinella footpath which runs alongside one of the three magnificent sandy beaches, Napoleon beach. This path will lead you as far as the small island of la Pietra, with its red-ochre porphyry rock. At the summit of this island, you can look out over the Balagne coastline, from Calvi up to Agriate Point, and the villages which contribute to the history of Ile-Rousse. This is the perfect spot to watch the sunset and take some superb photos to remember this moment forever.  

September 22 – News : works organised by the Conservatoire du Littoral oblige the tourist train to stop at the Tour génoise des îles as well as to pedestrians. The duration of the work is not yet known.
I just love wandering around the pleasant streets which lead down to the sea front, ordering a coffee at the fantastic Place Paoli lined with plane trees, admiring the old Florentine-style houses [...]

Aurélie, Chouette World blogger ,

A little bit of historyFrom Agilla to Lisula

Ile-Rousse, Lisula in the Corsican language, has been inhabited since the most Ancient Times and was built throughout Corsican history, between the sea and the mountains.

For a thousand years before our time, Île-Rousse was a small prosperous town. It was first known as Agilla by the Phoenicians, and later became a Roman market town and was renamed Rubico Rocega. It was situated too close to the sea and so was subject to so many invasions that its inhabitants progressively left and moved to the villages of Santa Reparata, Monticello, Corbara and Pigna.

In around 1758 Île-Rousse became a part of Corsican history thanks to “U Babbù”, Pascal Paoli. He turned this little market town into a fortified town, built around a port, whose purpose was to weaken the Genoese trade at the neighbouring ports of Algajola and Calvi. And that’s how the Île-Rousse that you know today, was born.

Within the old part of the town, visitors can stroll along the paved streets and cross the roads named after historical characters: Pascal Paoli, Napoleon, the Arena brothers, Louis Philippe, Agilla. Some of the Floretine-inspired houses are absolutely magnificent. The Church of Notre Dame de la Miséricorde, first built in the Rue Notre Dame, was rebuilt in the heights of the town centre, next to the former Franciscan convent. As for our parish, the Church of the Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary,  it can be found at the Place Paoli. It is hard to miss with its esplanade and huge date-palms (since 1890), where the older generations love to sit in the shade and watch the world go by…