On the edge of Calvi, on the road to Porto, a small ochre chapel and a white statue of the Virgin stand on a granite headland, at an altitude of about 230 m. From the terrace, the view takes in the whole bay: the citadel on its rock, the harbour, the pine forest and, behind them, the mountains of the Balagne. You can drive up in a quarter of an hour or walk up from the town centre.
Photo : Pierre BONA, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The chapel and the statue
The chapel stands on a terrace held up by a stone wall, among granite boulders and maquis. It is topped by a square bell tower. Beside it, on a rock higher than the roof, the statue of the Virgin looks out over the town and the sea. According to the Agence du tourisme de la Corse (the Corsican tourist board), the people of Calvi entrust her with the protection of their town.
Photo : Pierre Bona, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
On 2 September 2022, lightning struck the statue during a storm and broke it. A new, identical statue was put back on the rock on 7 September 2023, the day before the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin.
The history of Notre-Dame de la Serra
The chapel was founded in 1479. It was ruined during the siege of Calvi in 1794, then rebuilt in the mid-19th century on the remains of the first sanctuary, and completed in 1860. The building you see today therefore dates from this reconstruction.
Photo : Pierre Bona, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The view over the bay of Calvi
The view is the main reason to come up here. You see the whole citadel, set on its point, with the lower town and the marina at its feet. Further away, the beach and the pine forest run east to the slopes of Lumio, on the other side of the bay, with the mountains of the Balagne behind.
Photo : Dnalor 01, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Come late in the day if you can: the sun, in the west, lights the citadel head-on and the statue turns golden. In the morning, the walk up is cooler.
The September pilgrimage
Every year, in early September, the people of Calvi make a pilgrimage up to Notre-Dame de la Serra, around 8 September, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin. A procession sets off from Sainte-Marie-Majeure church, in the lower town. The programme changes from year to year: ask the tourist office or the Calvi parish if you are there at that time.
Why go
To see Calvi in a single view, and understand how the citadel sits in its bay. The visit takes an hour if you drive up. On foot, allow half a day with the descent through the pine forest, and avoid the hottest hours in summer.
