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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saints-Pierre-et-Paul de Piedicroce, located in Upper Corsica, was built between 1684 and 1696 by the masons B. Trovelli and G. B. Moro, replacing an older building. Dated from 1691, it embodies Corsican Baroque architecture with a facade adorned with volutes, a shell niche, and a restored polychromy revealing its turbulent decor. Its interior, structured in a unique nave and seven side chapels, has frescoes (including The Resurrection of Christ) and a rococo ornamentation.

The furniture, classified as a historical monument, includes paintings from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries (such as Virgin with the Child or Saint Peter and Saint Paul), a altarpiece representing the Holy Women at the foot of the cross, and a stand organ (1617–1619), probably the oldest in Corsica, transferred from Bastia around 1844. The church was rebuilt in the middle of the eighteenth century, with stuccos signed Ignace Xavier Raffalli (1761), then restored in 1999. Ranked in 1976, it illustrates the island's religious heritage.

Its bell tower, next to the left façade, overlooks a flat bedside building, vaulted in a glass crib. The interior decor, combining frescoes and wall ornamentation, reflects the influence of Italian baroque adapted to the Corsican context. The works of art, a communal property, bear witness to the cultural richness of Castagniccia, a region marked by a strong artistic and religious tradition.

Sources also mention a pulpit to preach, a cross path, and classified cabinets, highlighting the diversity of the movable heritage. The church, open to visit, remains a symbol of local identity, mixing history, sacred art and Baroque architecture.

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