Louis XVI Gate

The Louis XVI gate, north entrance to the Citadel

The Bastia audio-guided tour stops you before the Louis XVI gate, which marks the north entrance to the Citadel. In the Genoese era, it was the only gate allowing entry into the fortified town, a strategic crossing point laden with history.

A gate with a grave past

In front of the gate once stretched a vast public square, a place of gatherings of the population but also of executions. A few metres away, above a former shop, the memory of the gallows used for capital sentences still survives, a testimony to a justice of another age. The present monumental gate was raised in 1775 and bears the name of King Louis XVI.

What there is to see

The Louis XVI gate has been restructured and recently enhanced. You admire its monumental silhouette, which recalls the time when it was the only access to the Citadel. Recalled with restraint, its grave history also reminds us of the role of this square in the life and justice of the city of the past.

Practical information

The Louis XVI gate is at the north entrance to the Citadel of Bastia, in the Terra Nova district. It can be crossed freely at all hours and on the level. The gate can also be viewed from outside to appreciate its monumental architecture.

When was the Louis XVI gate built?

The present monumental gate was raised in 1775. In the Genoese era, it was the only entrance to the fortified town.

What was in front of the gate in the past?

A vast public square was there, a place of gatherings of the population and, in the past, of executions. The memory of the gallows still survives there.