A territory of modest size (860 ha), significantly smaller than that of the two neighboring municipalities of Morsiglia (1,334 ha) and Ersa (2,044 ha), but to which the geographical setting and history have given a particular interest, which continues today; quite the contrary, but in a different way.

1- THE NATURAL SETTING:

A rare alliance of sea and mountains, at the northwest tip of the Cap Corse peninsula.

A - The major natural features

as they appear from the Col de la Serra (361 m), an authentic belvedere and one of the most magnificent panoramas in Corsica.

Nature and Centuri: situation and site, in their complementary relationships. The importance
of Centuri's short coastal interface, both in terms of accessibility by sea
and the establishment of a port, originates from the relatively deep and fairly
vast cove (compared to what exists in the surrounding area...) that housed the current port. Added to this is a very favorable immediate environment (the Ilot of Capense, a true natural dike,
and the harbor of the "Arcu di l'Isola") and, behind it, a stony slope that comes into contact
with the first heights via a foothill that quickly becomes quite steep. This slope is
crossed by the only stream of any significance in the territory of Centuri (the Levilla-Pastricciola-Mute-Mezzane stream). This presence of water was of primary
importance for ancient human settlement, particularly Roman. It should also be noted that the hinterland is not too difficult to penetrate, which will facilitate land connections on both sides of the northern Cape Corsica.

Overall: an absolutely unique natural setting, from the edge of Cape Corsica to Saint Florent, to which is added the strategic value of its location, a short distance from the ancient "Sacrum Promontorium," which controlled the Mediterranean-Tyrrhenian passage, and which would become one of the keys to the Roman "Mar Nostrum."

One shadowy point, however: The danger of the area around Cape Corsica, strictly speaking,
particularly for air navigation (violence and frequency of heavy westerly and northwesterly seas (60 days of calm per year). Hence the Roman name "Sacrum Promontorium," "Sacrum" should be taken here to mean "cursed by the gods," very dangerous (same as the Greek version of "Ieron Akron").

B – The main historical features of Centuri

- Traces of human settlement dating back to the Neolithic period. Traces in toponymy.
- A major fact: Roman settlement.
It could logically date back to the Punic Wars (3rd and 2nd centuries BC) and the merciless struggle between the Carthaginians (the "Poeni" of the Rouxins) and the Romans
for control of the Mediterranean. This struggle, As we know, this ended with the complete destruction of Carthage by the Romans in 146 BC.
Evidence (examples):
– The place called "Civita," a contraction of "Centuri" (num Civitas) ("one of the 33 "cities" *) listed by Pliny the Elder, 1st century AD), also called "Centurinum Oppidum," both names referring to a fortified place (see also "Cincturia": enclosed link);
– The "Lugo" (locus), a sacred grove for magical initiation;

This settlement probably ended at the beginning of the 5th century AD when
barbarians (Vandals, Goths, etc.) swept across the Roman Empire. Aleria was destroyed in the 5th century AD. Hence the gradual perching of settlements inland.

– In the following centuries: The Byzantine era (mid-6th and 7th centuries) birth
of local feudalism of Genoese origin, here, the Da Mare (12th-15th centuries), Cap Corse
becoming a "Genoese province" until 1768, through the Pauline Wars of Independence; Corsica under the Ancien Régime, the Revolution and the Empire, the Restoration, the Second Empire and the Third Republic. Centuri has not escaped history. This can be seen in certain examples further on, while maintaining, until the end of the 19th century,
fairly close ties with Italy, on the traditional economic and even cultural levels.
(Medical studies were still sometimes carried out in Pisa).

​

* meaning administrative district

Text by Mr. Joseph Palmieri.