History
The present cathedral was built between 1577 and 1593 and is attributed to Italian architect Giacomo della Porta. It was built to replace the former Cathedral of Saint-Croix destroyed in 1553 in order to make room for developments in the city's defenses, as stated in the permit required by the Council of Ancients in 1559 to the Senate of Genoa and Pope Gregory XIII in order to build a new cathedral. The final stone was laid in 1593 by Jules Guistiniani, made bishop by Pope Sixtus V. It is where Napoleon Bonaparte was baptized on July 21, 1771 and he recited the following on his deathbed in Saint Helena in 1821: "If they forbid my corpse, as they have forbidden my body, deny me a small piece of land in which to be buried, I wish to be buried with my ancestors in Ajaccio cathedral in Corsica."
The cathedral has been a monument historique (a national heritage site of France) since October 30, 1906.
According to legend, on August 15, 1769, Letizia Buonaparte felt sudden labor pains while in the cathedral. She rushed home to the Buonaparte's home, just steps away, and gave birth to Napoleon on a first floor sofa before she could reach her bedroom upstairs.
Read more about this topic: Ajaccio Cathedral
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