Lama lies in the Ostriconi Valley, in a landscape shaped by the contrast between sea and mountains. The village itself also brings together different scales: houses with medieval foundations, cobbled lanes with numerous vaulted passageways, and grand manor houses known as “i palazzi.” When planning your trip, these architectural features are just one consideration; the agro-pastoral cultural landscape and routes with widely varying distances and durations are also central.
Cultural Landscape and Nature
The area around Lama is designated a “Site Patrimonial Remarquable” and preserves agro-pastoral features such as centuries-old olive groves, threshing floors, cultivated-land terraces and wells. These features reveal different aspects of the cultural landscape: olive groves and terraces are part of the cultivated land, while threshing floors and wells add other rural structures to the picture. Along the “Sentier du patrimoine de Lama,” wild olive trees, centuries-old olive trees, junipers, maquis and natural meadows add to the distinctive vegetation.
Routes with Different Durations
The “Chemin de la mémoire” connects Lama and Urtaca on a 4.8-kilometre round trip. It takes about an hour and a half; along the way, the route passes rural landmarks such as sheepfolds, hay barns, threshing floors and cultivated-land terraces.
The “Sentier du patrimoine de Lama” is a two-hour, 2-kilometre round trip with little elevation gain. The two figures show why distance alone is not enough when comparing durations: the shorter Sentier is listed as taking two hours, while the longer “Chemin de la mémoire” takes about an hour and a half. When planning, it is worth considering the duration and distance together for each route.
For a shorter outing, there is also the “Chemin de Funtana di u Canale”: the round trip to the spring takes 20 minutes. After a 600-metre stretch from the village entrance, a wooden sign points to the spring.
Architecture and Village History
The former San Lorenzo chapel was built in the late 13th century and preserves frescoes from the late 15th or early 16th century. The frescoes were therefore created considerably later than the chapel itself.
The Stallò is housed in a large, church-like hall dating from the 19th century, which long served as the gendarmerie’s stable. It features a permanent exhibition of old photographs donated by village families, showing people and traditional scenes from earlier times. The Stallò also hosts temporary themed exhibitions throughout the year and serves as a venue for conferences and workshops. The same building thus brings together the history of its former use and various forms of cultural programming.
“Lama Secretu” is a mobile application based on a five-act walking tour with 23 stops. The tour combines elements relating to the village’s history and the surrounding nature, tracing Lama’s story from its medieval origins in 1206 to the present day.
Local Cheese Production
The family-run GAEC Lama – Fromagerie de l’Ostriconi is based in Lama and specialises in sheep farming and the production of farmhouse cheese. The business draws on traditional artisanal know-how.
Discover more destinations: Taglio-Isolaccio, Moltifao, Verdèse, Prunelli-Di-Fiumorbo, Poggio-Marinaccio, Avapessa, Calacuccia, Moriani-Plage
Return to the wider travel overview: Haute-Corse.
