This ruin doesn’t look like much. Built at an altitude of 1,070 meters, far from the coast, hidden deep in the Castagniccia region—where the pioneers of Christianization still clashed with the primitive beliefs of the mountain peoples— it was nonetheless a unique religious center on the island between the 7th and 16th centuries. Its name: San Petru d’Accia.
I’m talking about a cathedral; the one and only, built in the Corsican mountains in the year 596, at the request of Gregory the Great, who wanted—as Geneviève Moracchini-Mazel tells us—the people of the interior to “learn to no longer worship either wood or stone.”
A tiny, remote cathedral
Its religious significance grew in 1133 when Pope Innocent II, in a ruling worthy of Solomon, reorganized the island’s dioceses to divide them more evenly between Pisa and Genoa. It was thus from the 12th century onward that San Petru d’Accia became a diocese—the smallest on the island, comprising two parishes (Ampugnani and Rostino). Four centuries passed before another pope, Pius IV, deeming the territory too small and insufficiently profitable, decided that it should be annexed to the Diocese of Mariana. This was in 1563.
Is the cathedral of Accia small and isolated? Yet its uniqueness is not limited to its geographic location. The building is also unusually small for this type of place of worship: 14 meters long and about 8 meters wide. “It’s the size of a chapel—in fact, the IGN map lists it as such, ” remarks Laurent Ridel, editor of the website Décoder les églises et les châteaux. Had it not been so dilapidated, this would have made it the smallest cathedral in Corsica… or even in France.
But other issues prevent the ruins of Accia from claiming the record. In particular, because historians disagree on the original structure: between Geneviève Moracchini-Mazel, who dates it to the late 6th century, and Roberto Coroneo, who believes it was rebuilt around the 12th century, the gap in dating widens. This is enough to sow doubt.
A 30-minute walk through the hills of Castagniccia
So what is this basilica-chapel-church that can be seen today in the towns of Quercitello and La Porta? “The small oratory standing at the Col du Prato, which has preserved its apse and part of its walls, is a remnant of the ancient cathedral of Accia, “ according to the authors of the Corse Romane website, who see it as “a fine example of the desire to bring the Gospel to the most remote corners, at the crossroads of mule trails.”
While it’s hard to imagine bishops climbing Mount San Petrone to conduct their services, the hike is much more accessible in our day and age. Drive to the Col du Prato, where you’ll find a pizzeria. Park there and follow a well-marked trail for about 30 minutes… And you’ll finally arrive at the cathedral—or what remains of it—the most astonishing in Corsica.
