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The Sailing Harbour of Saint-Florent is nestling at the foot of the Cap Corse, at the end of a Gulf which wear its name, lined-up at the west by the Desert of the Agriates, at Bastia level, the Capital of the North. In 1440, the Genoeses built on this site a citadel which remained, until the 18th century the siege of the bishop of the Nebbio and the governor palace. Despite the ravages caused by the malaria, this place was hotly contested at the 16th century by the French, the Genoeses, and of course, by the Corsican. The town finds a new expansion again, after Napoleon III had ordered the draining of the marshes, attacking then to the sources of the paludism.
Saint-Florent is the starting point of the beach path that stretches the length of the Agriates coast, 40 km of which is protected by the Conservatoire du Littoral. It is an amazing universe of stony scrub-covered hills punctuated by torrents. A land of wind and sun where the only traces of human life are found in the "pagliaghji" that provide shelter for shepherds and their sheep. In the spring, the fragrance of the maquis is at its finest on the edge of the beaches of Roya, Lodo and Saleccia that are great to cross on foot, horseback or bicycle.
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