Grotte de Napoléon

Grotte du Casone

Useful Information

photography — Grotte de Napoléon, Ajaccio, Corse, France. Public Domain.

Location:	Place d’Austerlitz, 20000 Ajaccio. Ajaccio, place d’Austerlitz (place du Casone). (41.9162690, 8.7237930)
Open:	no restrictions. [2025]
Fee:	free. [2025]
Classification:	Talus Cave
Light:	n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Office de Tourisme du Pays d’Ajaccio, 3 Boulevard du Roi Jérôme, BP 21 – 20181 AJACCIO Cedex 01, Tel: +33-495-51-53-03. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1768	Corsica sold to France by the Republic of Genoa.
15-AUG-1769	Napoleon Bonaparte born in the Maison Bonaparte in Ajaccio.
15-AUG-1938	Napoleon monument inaugurated.

Description

Grotte de Napoléon (also sometimes Grotte Bonaparte) is not what you expect of a cave, it is a sort of shelter formed by a few huge rocks. It’s a boulder cave which was formed by the movement of the granite boulders which now enclose a gap. To this place, shaded by some olive trees and the rocks, the young Napoleon went to retreat. The country house where he was raised was located slightly above the city on the same hill as the cave. And so he went to the cave to learn his lessons or to meditate, to find some inspiration. As the cave is rather small and unimposing, most visitors just see the Mémorial Napoléon, they miss visiting the nearby cave. It is a huge pyramid of white marble, with a sculpture of Napoleon on top, made of bronze. It seems the cave was a more important tourist site a century ago, there were lots of postcards and pictures of the cave. The name was given to the cave quite early, and its popularity actually started when he was still alive.

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on 15-AUG-1769 in the Maison Bonaparte in Ajaccio. It this time the island had fought a long war for freedom from the Republic of Genoa. The Genuese won, but they got tired of the fights and sold the island to France in 1768. He went to school in the city school of Ajaccio, but later Napoleon and some of his siblings were taught writing and arithmetic by an abbé. He received a royal scholarship and initially attended the Collège de Autun, primarily to learn French. Then he went to the cadet school in Brienne.

Do not mix this natural cave and real historic site up with a new restaurant which was lately opened in the center of Ajaccio. It has the name "La grotte Napoleon 1769" and even reserved the domain. As far as we know they do not explain the name and do not explain the original Napoleon Cave at all. But they offer a menu of Corsican food specialties and show a documentation about the life of Napoleon.