LEGIONNAIRES Since 1962, Calvi has been home to the only airborne parachute base of the French Foreign Legion. Formed in 1831, the legion is famous for offering anonymity to its recruits. This is still true today, when during their first year of service legionnaires are given a false name, and there is an unwritten law that no questions are asked about their past. The 2e Regiment Etranger de Parachutistes based in Calvi are allegedly the legion's elite force - picked from the cream of the recruits. The legion units were transferred to Corsica at the end of the Algerian war because the island offers ideal conditions for tough training & conditioning. Each year on 30th April the immaculately dressed legionnaires from Camp Raffali parade through the town to celebrate 'Camerone Day' commemorating a battle that bizarrely was one of the worst defeats in French Military History!

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS
Most Corsicans believe that Christopher Columbus was born in the Citadelle in Calvi during the Genoese occupation of Corsica. However, this fact is hotly disputed by the Genoese. Believers claim that the Genoese deliberately burned the town archives in 1580 in order to cover up the truth. The house that allegedly belonged to his parents and where it was said that he was born was destroyed by Nelson's army during the siege of 1794, but today bears a memorial plaque attesting to it's grandiose history.

LIBERTY OF LONDON
In 1400 the hot headed Bayon Baglioni is said to have saved Calvi from a treacherous duo who planned to hand it over to the Aragonese. As he stabbed the traitors he screamed Libertà, Libertà which became part of the family name and by a circuitous line of descent, the name of one of London's most famous shops; Liberty.

ADMIRAL NELSON
In 1794 Pascal Paoli enlisted the help of the English navy and Admiral Nelson to fight against the French who had taken over several main towns including Calvi, Bastia and St Florent. There was a fierce battle that lasted several weeks during which Nelson was reported to have said that he 'never wanted to see Calvi again'. His wish was to come true as during fighting on the 40th day, shrapnel from one of his own men hit him in the face and he lost his right eye. In the same year Corsica was declared part of the British Empire, however, this was to be a short lived affair as after just two years the British left under pressure from the French.

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