By Ponte alla Leccia. The finest part of the road is between Calvi and the Col Colombano. “If I were to permit myself to dwell in detail on the exquisite variety and charm of the drive, especially after quitting the route forestière a little E. of the hamlet of Palasca, I should wander far from the main purpose of this paper. Valery, Gregorovius, Lear and others have done justice to its wonderful beauty, and the last truly remarks that ‘those who visit Corsica without going through upper Balagne remain ignorant of one of its finest divisions,’ adding, ‘no description can exaggerate the beauty of this remarkable tract of mountain background and deep valley, which for richness of foreground, cheerful fertility and elegance of distance may compete with most Italian landscapes.’ The district is densely peopled—at least twelve large villages are situated on the road itself between Belgodere and Lumio, a distance of 21 miles—and picturesque hamlets with lofty campanili perch high up on the mountain slopes or crown the summits of the lower hills, whilst everywhere there is the richest culture and most varied produce, and the charm of the picture is completed by continually varying views over ‘bowery hollows crowned with summer sea.’”—F. F. Tuckett, Alpine Club.
CALVI
CORTÉ 61 CALVI. The road skirts the coast as far as Lumio, 6 m. from Calvi, whence it commences to ascend gradually by an admirably engineered road round the undulations of olive-clad mountains, disclosing at every turn a different view of [the fertile valley of Balagna], extending from the distant mountains to the blue waters of the Mediterranean. It is said that there is no district throughout the whole of Italy where the olive attains such a size as in this valley. Of the tree there are three varieties, the Sabine (Sabinacci), the Saracen (Saraceni),
and the Genoese (Genovesi), the most common of all, and is ascribed to the Genoese, who during the government of Agostino Doria compelled the Corsicans to plant olives in great numbers.
After passing the picturesquely situated village of [Lavatoggio], 9 m.; the Col Cesario, 1200 ft., 10½ m.; the villages of [Feliceto], inn, pop. 640, 16¼ m.; Castor, 24 m.; [Speloncato]; Ville di [Paraso], pop. 750; Occhiatana, and many more perched on the surrounding mountain tops, or nestling in nooks among olive and chestnut trees, the diligence arrives at
CALVI
CORTÉ 26¾ 34¼ BELGODERE 1017 feet, pop. 950, commanding the finest view of this beautiful valley, its orchards, fields and mountains undulating towards the blue sea. The diligence just remains long enough to give time to run through the gate and up the narrow dirty street to the top of the rock on which the houses are clustered, and there to take a rapid glance at the lovely scene around and underneath. After the gate, the diligence halts at the post-office, and then moves on a few yards towards the stables, where the horses are changed.
[Forest Road from Belgodere to the Forest of Tartagine.]
From Belgodere, Route Forestière, No. 3, leads down to the small port of Losari, 6 miles N. from Belgodere and 4½ E. from the Ile Rousse. A continuation of the same route southward extends to the bridge across the Tartagine, 2355 feet, 25 miles from the Ile Rousse, in the great forest of Tartagine. It passes the Bocca Campana, 2782 feet, 3¼ miles from Belgodere; the Bocca Croce, 3045 feet, the culminating part of the road, 7 miles from Belgodere; and 2½ miles farther, the hamlets of Olmi and Capella, 9 miles from Speloncato; with ever-varying mountain and village scenes among great forests; 20 m. from Belgodere is the Pont Tartagine in the forest of that name. The forest of Tartagine, enclosed within the high crests of the [Capo Dente] 6667 ft. on the west, and of [Mt. Padro] on the east, measures 7166 acres, and contains principally the Pinus laricio and the P. pinaster, intermingled with ilexes or evergreen oaks ([p. 41]).