The rocky promontory occupied by the parish church of Saint-Paul overlooks the Nebbiu plain and offers a view of the Gulf of Saint-Florent. Vallecalle combines this landscape with tangible traces of its heritage: a protected painting, church and castle ruins, and traditional architecture. If you like to take art and historic architectural styles into account when choosing a destination, you will find several distinct highlights here.

The Rosary painting in Saint-Paul

The parish church of Saint-Paul houses the protected painting and frame “Donation du Rosaire.” It depicts the Virgin and Child, Saints Dominic and Peter, and 15 panels showing the Mysteries of the Rosary. The work is attributed to the Corsican painter Giovan Battista Moro and dated to the first half of the 18th century.

At the centre are the Virgin and Child, two saints and the Mysteries of the Rosary.

Portal, castle and church ruins

The ruins of the Chapelle Sainte-Anastasie, also known as Sant'Anastasia, preserve a portal with a semicircular lintel decorated with a cross resting on an anchor. The shape of the lintel and the motif on it give the portal a clearly identifiable architectural detail.

The ruins of a former castle stand on the Campo-Casso rock. Vallecalle’s heritage sites also include the ruins of the former church of San Giorgo. This brings two different structures together: a former castle and a former church. Together, they broaden the view beyond the painting in Saint-Paul to include the architectural traces of the place.

Schist houses and other historic landmarks

The walls of Vallecalle’s traditional houses are mostly made of schist; the roofs are traditionally made of schist too. The material is another point of interest if you are interested in local architecture: schist shapes both the walls and the roof design, although the walls are predominantly made from it.

The old washhouse in Vallecalle is still visible, as are historic oil mills and historic houses. These landmarks extend the focus beyond churches and ruins to other historic buildings. The washhouse, oil mills and houses offer a different perspective from the religious buildings, complementing the religious art and architecture with other visible traces of the area’s history.

An annual event in August

In Vallecalle, Saint Roch, Saint-Roch, is celebrated on 16 August as a recurring local tradition. If you would like to plan your stay around this occasion, check the dates for the relevant year in advance. This allows you to take the feast day into account when planning your trip without assuming there will be any other events.

Discover more destinations: Urtaca, Ville-di-Pietrabugno, Solaro, Occhiatana, Furiani, Zalana, Cateri, Omessa

For the wider travel overview: Haute-Corse.