A famous figure in the history of Corsica thanks to his book “Account of Corsica, The Journal of a Tour to that Island and Memoirs of Pascal Paoli“ of 1768, where he wrote about his trip on the island, the inhabitants’ customs and his encounter with Pascal Paoli. James Boswell also maintained a correspondence with Antonio Rivarola and questioned him about Corsica’s distinctive characteristics.
“In Oletta, I visited Count Nicolas Rivarola, brother of my friend from Livorno. He welcomed me very courteously and did everything in his power to help me. Concerning his English, I found he had a better aptitude than the Patrimonio Officer. He told me about their bombardment of San Fiorenzo in favor of the Patriots, and gave me his horse, for this evening, which he would not have done, he told me, to anyone else except an Englishman. I addressed a large number of questions to Count Rivarola concerning the distinctive characteristics of Corsica, and each time he was kind enough to answer fully and with precision. I am not indebted to him for these explanations, but more for the kind way he gave them to me”.
A military doctor in Bastia in 1918, he wrote a book about the Island of Beauty “Sur les chemins de la Corse” (On the roads of Corsica) in 1926. During a visit at his friend’s house Pierre Paul Peretti, he described Oletta in detail and took us on a walk through the backstreets of the village.
“Bourgade étagée sur éperon de colline, et dominée par deux clochers triangulaires, recouverts d’un petit toit de tuiles rousses » (Small town arranged in tiers on a mountain spur, and dominated by two triangular bell towers, covered with a small red tiled roof).
“ Oletta un gros village, ou la vie est souriante et le sol est fertile. » (Oletta a large village, where life is smiling and the land is fertile.)
After having lived in the Castle of Moniack in Scotland until 1867, Miss Thomasina Campbell, a rich rentier, visited Corsica from south to north and fell in love with it to such an extent that she decided to live there. She promoted the region of Nebbiu in 1868 for tourists, she made Oletta known. Here are a few extracts from her Notes on Corsica when she was in the region of Nebbiu:
“ People who say there is nothing to see near Bastia except for the Brando grotto, are wrong. It’s a very pleasant trip (…) to take a look at the beautiful valley of the region of Nebbiu. (…)
“This beautiful valley so rich and so well cultivated stretched out in front of us: on the right, perched on a tree-covered hill, was Oletta, this “pearl of the Nebbiu” of ancient Corsica.”
“The olive trees in abundance make up Nebbio’s great resources.”
A major writer of French literature in the XX th century. On vacation in Oletta during the summer of 1958, the writer described Oletta:
“August 3, 1968. In Oletta, in Corsica, not far from Saint-Florent. From our windows, we can see further away, on a hill, the village dominated by the two towers of its baroque church. The garden is full of intoxicating scents from morning to night. Corsica takes you on a walk with a bouquet of flowers under your nose. The inhabitants greet or smile at you only if you do so first, but then they are very cordial(…)
“August 24, 1958 (…) In Oletta’s Church, where I hear the Mass on Sunday, the men are in the back, near the door, absolutely immobile. You do not hear them. They do not receive Communion, but they are there, a little like trees; they have that dignity that trees have. Without a doubt, they are the most mysterious human beings I have ever met.
An English officer, he spent time in Corsica in 1857 with the painter, Mickael Antony Biddulph (1823 – 1904). In 1858 he published an account of voyages. “Rambles in the Island of Corsica and Sardinia with notices on their history, antiquities and present condition”, and was illustrated with Biddulph’s drawings and watercolor paintings.
“The administrative district of Oletta is called “The Pearl of the Nebbio” by Corsicans. The village contains two or three hamlets. The main village seems to hang onto the rocky slope of a hill, surrounded by fruit trees. Olive trees grow especially well here; and the name of the village comes from olive trees like Olmeta comes from elm trees. (“l’orme”) (…) There is a story of love and heroism linked to Oletta. You can hear such stories almost everywhere in Corsica, on the edge of a path, at the campfire of a shepherd watching over his sheep, lying in the shade or basking in the sun. Antoine was an excellent storyteller; like all vagabonds. I have a beautiful collection of these stories by Renucci, published in Bastia.”
A German historian, he wrote a book on Corsica “Voyage in Corsica” (Corsica, 1858) in which he describes the story of Maria Gentile in a detailed and romanticized manner.
“Maria Gentile Montalti was in her bedroom. She was not crying: sitting on her bed, her head bent down on her chest, her hands on her knees, her eyes closed, from time to time a sob escaped from her heart.” (…)
A writer journalist, in 1958 he published an article about “The story of Maria Gentili, Corsican Antigone” in the magazine Historia. He also wrote a Christmas story entitled “The treasure of Tuda” which was published in December 1953 in the magazine Deux Mondes.
Without a doubt, this soldier has written the most beautiful description of the Nebbiu region’s landscapes after spending his vacation in Oletta at a military friend’s house. The text, entitled “Delightful Localities in Corsica: Oletta” published in the Bastia Newspaper on October 15, 1907:
“Casually built up against the western side of the St-Antoine mountain, not far from Bastia. Yes, it is this delightful locality, with Oletta as a panoramic viewpoint, which struck my imagination the most. (…)
This fertile valley, but still picturesque, simulates the form of an arena or a racetrack having as a belt, on one side the Saint Antoine mountain chain; and far away across from it on the other side, the Tenda chain that stands out against a sky almost always clear; and to the left of the regular, giant pyramid which is the Tuda Mountain, around which changeable nature took pleasure in scattering countless humps which become small emerald-colored islands in spring, when the sun floods them with its dying flames at sunset, this great lake of green foliage. (…)
But another magical extravaganza of an inconceivable impressiveness, completes this already marvelous panorama.
At seven o’clock, towards mid-June, when the sun is setting, its errand for the day finished, beyond the summits of Tenda, the sky, with the help of the clouds, takes on dazzling colors. (…)
And now that I have run through the maquis, smelled its wild perfumes, breathed in pure and invigorating air from mountains carpeted in moss (…) I wonder if the Terrace of Saint-Germain, lost amongst the long twists and turns of the Seine, will be as attractive to me as the rustic terrace of Oletta, for example!”
Paris, October 1907. Lis Blanc.
An engineer, he received an order to leave for Corsica and explore the mountains of our island. Barely had he arrived when he made an agreement with the bandits who protected him throughout all of his business, studied the rocks in Corsica in detail during eight months and brought back notes and maps to France with which he wrote, in two volumes, his “Geological and mineralogical voyage in Corsica”. “2nd New layer of gneiss; -3rd finally the powdered schist up to the village. You go down to the plains, and continue towards the Oletta convent, on the powdered schist; near this convent, you can find the first limestones of the creation of St-Florent.”
Emile Gueymard, mining engineer, Geological and mineralogical voyage in Corsica (1820 – 1821).
These two brothers were interested in the steel-making industry in France and were also interested in Corsica including Oletta.
“ (…) We know that Mr. Milauta, merchant in Bastia, had, in 1788, re-established the former factory with a blast furnace that existed in Murato, in order to exploit the mines of Oletta and Farinole (…)
The steel-making industry in France at the beginning of the Revolution by Hubert Bourgin and Georges Bourgin, Secretary of Public Instruction, Paris, 1920