Niolu region
The Niolu region is located in the Corsica Regional Nature Park , in the center of the island of Corsica . The 15 km long and 10 km wide basin is 800 m above sea level and is framed by the highest mountains in Corsica: Monte Cintu (2710 m), Paglia Orba (2525 m) and Capu Tafunatu (2343 m).
Twelve of the municipalities belonging to the highest villages on the island with not even 2000 inhabitants are located in the Niolu. They are part of today's canton of Niolu-Omessa , which is in the arrondissement of Corte , west of Corte , the old capital of Corsica.
For a long time, the only access to the region was the mule path through a ravine, the Scala di Santa Regina (Staircase of the Queen of Heaven). Today the D84, a new road, connects the Niolu to the basin landscape around Corte. To the west, the road over the Col de Verghio represents the highest pass in Corsica (1477 m) and connects with the coastal region (Gulf of Porto). Corsica's most important river, the 84 km long Golo, flows through the basin . It was dammed in 1968 in the center of the valley to the Barrage de Calacuccia, the highest reservoir. The largest forest in Corsica is the Foret de Valdu-Niellu. With its Laricio pines, it is typical of the “upper Mediterranean vegetation level” on Corsica, but otherwise the Niolu shows more alpine features.
Waterfalls such as the Cascade Radule or the Cascade des Anglais, which flow into mountain lakes, are typical of the mountain region around the high valley. The carnivorous Pinguicula corsica from the genus of fatty herbs is endemic to Corsica and occurs here. Bearded vultures ( Gypaetus barbatus ) and mouflons ( Ovis gmelini musimon var. Corsicana ) are the highlights of the wild fauna. The Corsican mouflon was already in the 7th millennium BC. Introduced here by humans along with other domestic animals from the Middle East . Since then it has developed independently. Forestry, transhumant sheep farming , chestnut and fruit growing, but also grain fed the population. Today the Niolu is on the way to the tourist area. Mountain hiking in particular, but also sailing, surfing and skiing (on the Col de Verghio) are on the rise. The Lozzi nature trail is one of the new attractions.
prehistory
In the early Neolithic (6th millennium BC), agriculture and livestock farming were introduced to Corsica as part of the cardial or imprint culture . The high valley of Niolu was surrounded by mountains and its natural entrances (Scala di Santa Regina and Bocca di Verghiu) could easily be controlled. In the late Neolithic the rocky hills were provided with walled systems: (Marze, Castelle, Capu di u Castellu). The Dolmen of Calacuccia , the statuary menhirs of Cumadoghja and the tomb of Sovezzia, restored at the Licnicoi Museum in Albertacce , were built. The archaeological circular route, there leads to three menhirs and some abrises . The region is later shaped by classic house shapes .
The Licnicoi Museum takes its name from the name that Greek colonists gave to the natives of the Niolu.
literature
- Lucien Acquaviva: La préhistoire et la protohistoire du Niolu 1980. In: Les journées corses. 1981.
- Almut Rother, Frank Rother: Corsica. Art travel guide. Nature and culture on the island of beauty. DuMont Art Guide, Cologne 1990 ISBN 3-7701-1186-9 .