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Origin and history

Borgo's Annunciation Church (The Annunziata), built in the seventeenth century, is a jewel of Corsican Baroque architecture. Ranked as a Historic Monument in 1988, it is distinguished by its three-storey facade decorated with pilasters and carved decorations, as well as by its truncated massive bell tower surmounted by a wrought iron campanile. The interior, richly decorated with gypsum and neo-classical paintings, houses protected works such as 19th-century procession lanterns and a sacristy furniture from the early 18th century, probably from the Franciscan convent next to Lucciana.

The village of Borgo, perched at 320 meters above sea level on a shale ridge, developed as a refuge from the barbaric invasions and pirate raids that ravaged the east coast of Corsica after the fall of the Roman Empire. The strategic position of the village, offering stunning views of the Marana plain and the Tyrrhenian Sea, made it a major checkpoint of the Marana piève, of which it became the historic capital. The church, located in the heart of this fortified village, symbolized both community resistance and local spiritual power.

In the 18th century Borgo was the scene of two major battles against the Franco-Genoese forces. In 1738, during the "Vêpres corses", French troops suffered a defeat against the Corsican insurgents, an episode commemorated by a monument to the dead near the church. In 1768, the Battle of Borgo again opposed Pascal Paoli's militias to the French royal armies, reinforcing the village's legend of resistance. These conflicts, linked to the quest for Corsican independence, have anchored the church and its environment in the military and political history of the island.

The building is also part of a contrasting landscape, between the shale massif of Stella to the west and the lagoon cordon of the Marana to the east, where a dynamic tourist activity is now developing. The fertile plain, formerly exploited for its vegetable crops, and the Biguglia pond, a major nature reserve, complete this setting where historical heritage and biodiversity coexist. The church remains a symbol of Borghjaisse identity, between Baroque heritage, memory of independent struggles and anchoring in a geographically strategic territory.

Architecturally, the church is characterized by its long rectangular plan of a flat-side choir, a rise rhythmic by composite pilasters, and a vault with glasses. The baroque-inspired façade presents a portal in the middle of a four-lobed bay, all framed by singing fins. These stylistic elements, combined with local materials such as the shale, illustrate the adaptation of European artistic currents to the Corsican resources and know-how of the seventeenth century.

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