Palais Fesch

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Palais Fesch in Ajaccio owes its existence to the bequest of Cardinal Joseph Fesch (1763–1839), maternal uncle of Napoleon I, who at its height had assembled a fabulous collection of more than 17,000 works of art, of which about a thousand paintings were bequeathed to his native town. Designed in 1806, the building was begun in 1827 under the direction of Monsignor Péraldi, halted in 1829 by the Bourbon government, then resumed and completed between 1833 and 1837 under the direction of the architect Frassato – the cardinal, who died in Rome in 1839, never saw his architectural project completed. Restored from 1987 onwards and then closed for works from 2008 to 2010, the palace reopened in June 2010. Today it presents one of the most remarkable collections of old master paintings in France, as well as a major Napoleonic collection, and holds the “Musée de France” label.