Christmas in Bastia

Winter may linger elsewhere, but here it is, ready to cross the island threshold. And with it the long-awaited December, for which Bastia is ablaze and illuminated, decked out as never before, offered body and soul to the mystery of Christmas...

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At the heart of the ineffable

Everyone in the family is already talking about it: Bastia is celebrating! Unfurling its curtains of light and hanging decorations, the sublime, magnetic city is spilling out its magical decorations and scenes at every crossroads and in every shop window.

In the churches too, the people of Bastia are hard at work, led by their children, preparing to portray the main characters of a founding night that they will bring to life through the sacred songs sung by the brotherhoods.

Don't miss the opportunity to push open the great sacred doors! In the late afternoons and evenings on 24 December, there are many services, sometimes accompanied by live nativity scenes, and always held with emotion in the sumptuous setting of the religious buildings Bastia and its surrounding villages, all in the Christmas spirit.

Meanwhile, in the houses of Bastia, other rituals are being passed down. The only ones who can hunt l'ochju (the evil eye), the signadori will deliver their secrets at midnight, in gesture and prayer, to others who will follow in their footsteps, reinforcing the cohort of the forces of good against evil...

A taste of celebration

Christmas in Bastia also means a selection of dishes and products that are not available in summer, reserving their traditional recipes and distinctive flavours for winter visitors.

The scent of roasting chestnuts wafts through the streets and lanes, adding an extra touch of soul to local meals and snacks at a time when it's good to be near a roaring fire.

Don't miss the charcuterie from the Corsican mountains, lonzu, coppa, and others prizutti served, as the season dictates, at Bastia's finest restaurants or retailed in all the local shops. delicatessens of the city.

And here comes the inevitable figatellu, This is the perfect accompaniment to the famous pulenda with Corsican chestnut flour, so tasty and precious!

Another king of Bastia-style Christmas and end-of-year meals, the caprettu (cabri) can also be tasted at local restaurants and at the best gourmet addresses in different versions. Unless one of the chef's suggestions goes to the tripette, or freshly delivered sea urchins, served with an AOC wine from one of the renowned vineyards nearby.

To be savoured before a clementine or myrtle liqueur and after an aperitif bearing the signature of one of the neighbouring brasseries, or a famous drink made with cinchona and mistelles from Cap Corse...

In the Bastia hood

From ultra-chic boutiques to small designer workshops, the shopping streets of the city centre are full of gift ideas, as delicate as they are original.

Bastia's jewellers, leatherworkers, designers and other stylists are working to reinvent local materials and skills to create the most fabulous collection of unique pieces!

Make way for the Christmas festivities!

The island's craftsmen and producers will also be selling their wares at Bastia's Christmas markets.

Join us on 26 and 29 November in Pietranera for a friendly, festive event. Young and old alike will have the chance to take a carriage ride with Father Christmas, enjoy a gourmet snack, or sample tasty local produce from an island food-truck.

On 2 December, a Corsican evening awaits you at Miomo with musical entertainment provided by the group I Turchini, accompanied by pulenda and figatelli.

The town of Bastia will be opening its Christmas chalets from 13 to 23 December. It's ten days of festivities, meetings and sharing in a warm and festive atmosphere, where you'll find all the representatives of Corsica's sectors of excellence and the finest craftsmen and women. Don't miss the acoustic aperitifs and musical evenings, to be enjoyed alongside migliaccioli and other typical snacks.

And don't forget to visit the Giant Ferris Wheel and the ice rink on Place Saint-Nicolas, which will open before this huge Christmas market on the very first weekend in December.

Winter walks

In the magic of December, the whole of the Bastia region, with its exceptional sites and panoramas, is revealed in a new light: intimate and even more authentic.

Before or after shopping, Bastia outside the walls can be discovered on foot, in its winter colours and other atmospheres...

With Corsica's clement weather, don't forget to take advantage of these routes and short family excursions along old-fashioned paths planted with trees and lined with scrubland. You'll come across manor houses, chapels, fountains, wash-houses and mills, all the way to breathtaking sea views!

Perched villages just a stone's throw from Bastia (Furiani, Cardo, Ville di Pietrabugno, San Martino and Santa Maria di Lota) are also waiting to be explored, with vegetation, characterful homes, restored ice houses and small buildings. While the Chiurlinu pond nature reserve awaits you, unchanged, in all its hieratic beauty, pink flamingos, among other species, never failing to land here in autumn and winter to paint the most beautiful of pictures.

Another one of those enchanting Christmas gifts that only Bastia has the art and secret to take you on a journey to its heart.