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Origin and history

The Saint John's Church of St. Lucia-de-Tallano is a 12th century Romanesque building, characteristic of the religious architecture of Corsica under Pisan influence. The elongated plane consists of a single nave covered with an apparent structure and a semicircular apse arched in cul-de-four. Its pink granite walls, decorated with lumbar bands and bacini (decorative ceramics), rest on a glacis base. The western door, surmounted by a blind tympanum adorned with a twisted boudin, and the archatures of the lateral facades, highlighted by carved crows, bear witness to remarkable craftsmanship. Some arcades once housed enamelled terracotta dishes, now gone.

Originally, this church was the religious center of the Attala stake, a scattered housing complex. Its construction, probably linked to the Pisan domination in Corsica, dates back to the 12th or 13th century, as suggested by the bacini studied by Lucie Vallaury (L.A.M.M.). It lost its status as the main parish church in the 17th century, when the auxiliary churches of Saint Andrew and Saint Lucia were built into autonomous parishes. As a simple rural benefit, its condition is gradually deteriorating, as evidenced by the reports from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. A restoration finally took place in the second half of the 20th century, allowing its preservation.

Classified as a Historical Monument by decree of 29 December 1930, the Saint John church illustrates the Romanesque heritage in Corsica. Its gradual abandonment reflects the religious and demographic changes of the region, while its architectural elements (modillons, archatures, cul-de-four vault) make it a valuable witness to the island medieval art. The presence of circular cavities on the facades, intended for the bacini, highlights cultural exchanges with Italy during the Pisan period.

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