La Chapelle Impériale

Plan a trip to the Chapelle Imperiale if you are looking for somewhere serene and peaceful to spend some time if that is what you are after. This sacred refuge is the ideal place to escape from the hustle and bustle of monotonous city life. This chapel was designed with a rectangular plan with a Latin cross. Built in Saint-Florent stone, it took its place in the right wing of the Fesch Palace.

If you, like most travelers, place a high value on the concept of 'free,' then you will be happy to learn that this house of prayer is exactly that! Ajaccio is home to the magnificent Chapelle Imperiale.

How to explore La Chapelle Impériale?

• The interior of the chapel, and in particular the dome, is entirely decorated with greyish paintings featuring floral motifs and trophies of priestly objects, the work of Jérôme Maglioli, architect and painter of Ajaccio.
• The stained glass windows are also interesting from an iconographic point of view. Marked with the F of Fesch, they present compositions combining the ecclesiastical attributes of the cardinal with the traditional imperial symbols of the Eagle and the cross structure of the Legion of Honor.
• The central pillars support black marble plates, three of which are engraved with Latin inscriptions composed by Champollion-Figeac in memory of Madame Mère, Cardinal Fesch, and Charles Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of Canino, Lucien's eldest son.
• The altar, specially prepared during the annual celebrations of August 15 and May 5 (birth and death of the Emperor), is surmounted by a Coptic crucifix offered by Bonaparte to his mother on his return from Egypt in August 1799.
• Side corridors provide access to the crypt where the members of the imperial family rest.
• Visit the Musee Fesch, the Ajaccio Cathedral, and Trottel Beach while you are in the area. Doing so will help you pack as much as possible into your itinerary for sightseeing.