Last modified: 2005-03-19 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Cargese]](../images/f/fr-2a-cg.gif)
by Ivan Sache
Flag of uncertain status
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The port city of Cargèse is located on the west coast of Corsica, on
the northern shore of the Gulf of Sagone, some 50 km north of Ajaccio.
Cargèse is known for having two churches built opposite each other in
the village, a Latin Catholic church, which is usual in France, and a
Greek Catholic church, which is less usual, especially for such a small
city.
The origin of the Greek community in Cargèse dates back to the XVIIth
century. Greece was then under Ottoman rule, which was particularly
severe in the region of Mani area (Laconia, south-east of
Peloponnesis, near the ancient city of Sparta).
Some 800 Greeks from the city of Vitylo (aka Otylos) decided to
emigrate. In 1663, His Grace Parthenios Calcandis, the Greek Catholic
Bishop of Vitylo, started negotiations with the Republic of Genoa,
then ruling Corsica. Genoa promised to grant the Greeks the territory
of Paomia, whereas the Greeks promised to pay a small fee to Genoa and
recognize the religious authority of the Pope. On 25 June 1665,
Calcandis officially thanked the Genoese government for its offer.
However, it took another ten years to organize the emigration of the
Greeks to Corsica.
On 25 September 1675, after the return of a Greek commission that had visited Paomia, a contract was signed with captain Daniel, who should carry the 800 Greek emigrants from Greece to Leghorn or Genoa. The journey was expected to take 10 days. Boarding took place during the night of 3 to 4 October 1675 but the ship reached Genoa only on 1 January 1676. 120 out of the 800 emigrants died during the journey. On 13 February 1676, the Genoese authorities interviewed His Grace Parthenios, who had joined the emigrants with six monks and priests, about the reason of the emigration. The names of the emigrants were Italianized before they left Genoa for Corsica: for instance, Papadakis was changed to Papadacci.
On 14 May 1676, three Genoese galleys moored near Paomia (from Italian
pavone, peacock) in the cove dei Monachi (Monk's cove), probably
the today's Fornis' Bay. Within one year, the Greeks built the five
hamlets of Pancone, Corone, Rondolini, Salici and Monte Rosso. The
main church Notre-Dame was achieved in Rondolini in 1678. In the next
50 years, the Greeks transformed the area in one of the wealthiest
agricultural lands in Corsica and lived in peace with their Corsican
neighbours.
In 1729, Corsica rose up against Genoa. The Greeks refused to support
the insurrection against their benefactors, and their estates in Paomia
were trashed by the Corsicans. Next year, the Corsicans attacked the
inhabitants of Paomia, who were advized by the Genoans to move to
Ajaccio, except 50 men who would defend the village. The last defenders
of Paomia had to walk to the end of the paeninsula of Olminia and
entranched themselves in the Genoese watch tower built there. In late
April 1731, the besieged lacked food; they broke the siege during night
and could eventually walk to Ajaccio. The Greeks stayed in Ajaccio
until 1774.
In 1768, France took over Corsica. The Greeks formed a regiment
incorporated into Count Marboeuf's troops. In 1774, Marboeuf granted
the Greeks the territory of Cargèse as a compensation for the loss of
Paomia. George Stephanopoli, nicknamed Capitan Giorgio, accepted
Marboeuf's proposal on behalf of the Greek community. The Army
Engineers built 120 identical houses 250 m from the sea and a castle
for Marboeuf, who took the title of Marquis de Cargèse.
In 1793, the Jacobins from the neighbouring villages of Vico burned the
castle of Cargèse to ashes but the village was hardly damaged. The men
who had entranched themselves into the two towers watching the Pero
cove were allowed to move to Ajaccio with women and children. The
Greeks had to stay once again Ajaccio, for another four year. Upon
order of the Directoire government, General Casabianca allowed to
Greeks to settle back Cargèse; the two-third of them, c. 800, accepted,
whereas the remaining ones stayed in Ajaccio or moved to French
mainland.
In 1804, there were 1000 inhabitants in Cargèse, including 350
Corsicans. The two communities have lived in peace since then. Barracks
able to house 800 soldiers were built in 1808. In 1814, the
inhabitants of Vico raided again Cargèse; King Charles X forced them
later to give back most of their booty. Greeks and Corsicans in
Cargèse strenghtened their alliance against Vico, which stopped its
attempts.
The two churches of Cargèse are built opposite each other.
In 1853, the Greek community decided to build a new church to replace
the original one, deemed to small. The devotees worked on the building
site every Sunday after the mass until sundown.
The iconostasis, the wooden partition decorated with saint images that
isolates the altar from the nave in Greek churches, was given to the
church by the Brotherhood of Propaganda in 1886. The lateral chapel
located on the left side of the church is decidated to the Panaghia,
the patron of the Blessed Virgin's Brotherhood. The lateral right
chapel is dedicated to Saint Spiridion. At birth, all Greek newborne
of Cargese, as well as several non-Greek ones, are enrolled in the St.
Spiridion's Brotherhood.
The ritual in use in the church is nearly identical to the ritual of
Athens and Constantinople, in use by the Greek Catholic churches of
Paris, Lyon and Marseilles. Ancient Greek is the church language,
whereas modern Greek is less and less spoken among the community.
Missals have the Greek text written in Latin characters, facing the
traduction in French. The most important festivals are Easter Monday,
with the blessing of the fields, and St. Spiridion's Day, celebrated on
12 December.
There are today c. 300 parishioners following the Greek ritual in
Cargèse.
In 1817, the chiefs of the non-Greek families decided to build a Latin ritual church. Antoine Andreani gave a plot of land, but the building site started only eight years later. The church was achieved in 1828, with the help of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. In 1835, wind removed the roof of the church; its bell tower was built only in 1847. In the XIXth century, the Greek priest Elie Papadacci adopted the Latin ritual and was followed by the Petrolacci family and a part of the Dagracci family.
There is in Cargèse an international conference center, owned by the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), the University of Corsica and the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis. Cargèse is therefore a very popular place for summer schools and scientific workshops.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 29 January 2005
The flag shown on the top of this page can be seen on pictures of Cargèse in two books:
The flag is white with a dark blue stripe along the hoist, the rest of the flag forming a white square divided by a red cross.
Arnaud Leroy has contacted local people in Cargèse and asked them about the flag. A member of the tourism office answered him the flag was not the municipal flag of Cargèse and might be the flag of the Greek city of Vitylo, the origin of the Greek community of Cargèse, the two cities being today twinned. The city hall confirmed that Cargèse has no official flag. A third local source of information claimed the flag is the flag of Genoa.
The red cross on the white field indeed recalls the flag of Genoa (also used for instance by the Corsican city of Calvi). The blue stripe most probably recalls the Greek flag.
Anyway, the status of the flag is still mysterious.
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 29 January 2005