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Centuri is a French commune located in the departmental district of Haute-Corse and the territory of the collectivity of Corsica . It belongs to the former piève of Luri , in Cap Corse .Centuri is a commune on the western coast of Cap Corse , one of eighteen communes grouped within the Community of Communes of Cap Corse . Cap Corse is a block of lustrous shale built in the Tertiary during the uplift of the Alps on a Hercynian base . The oldest of these lustrous shales are found between Tollari and as far south as Gualdo d'Ersa, as well as on the island of Capense. They belong to the Hercynian basement tectonized during the uplift of the Alps: deformed, crushed, they overlapped with pre-Cambrian gneisses intercalated with dark-green amphibolites and kaolinized granitic veins by the action of the waters in contact with the feldspar of the granite, in surface and in cracks 1 .

To the north of the Centuri marina, Capo Bianco offers a landscape with an abrupt and acute relief, due to the presence of ophiolites composed of magmatic rocks called peridotites transformed into serpentinites (tinted green by olivine ).

Located on the northwest coast of Cap Corse , the town is bordered to the north and east by the Mandrioni ridge (Punta di Pietra Campana 310 m , Punta di Vitellagiu 320 m , Punta di Tizzoli 338 m ) and a line of heights passing through Bocca di Serra (365 m ), Cima Santa Catalina (533 m ), Pointe de Torricella (former Air Force radar station) culminating at 562 m , Monte Poggiu (504 m ), cima d 'Albucetta (491 m ), cima Santa Chiara (459 m ) and Punta di Colombara (510 m ), which separate it from Ersa and Rogliano. These mountains form a vast coastal valley. To the south, it is separated from Morsiglia by most of the course of the Guadi 2 stream, which is located from its source to its mouth at Morsiglia. Its coastline extends with steep coasts, from Punta di Corno di Becco (north of Capo Bianco ( Capi Biancu )) in the north, to the pebble beach of Mute (Morsiglia) in the south. It includes the island of Capense (ornithological reserve). The small fishing port of Centuri is one of the few shelters on the western coast of Cap Corse.

In the 1st century BC . J.-C. , there already existed a port of the name of Centurinum Civitas . Ptolemy also cited a port called "Centurinon".

Centurinum would have already existed six centuries BC. AD and was connected to Macinaggiu ( Rogliano ) by a Roman road passing through the Col de Cataro ( collu di u Cataru - 192 m ) located north of Granaggiolo ( Ersa ).

Middle Ages

Cinnamon, medieval village.
From the end of the 9th century to 1197 , Centuri belonged to the noble Peverelli family supported by Genoa, then from 1198 to 1248 to the Avogari who ceded it to Ansaldo da Mare .

In the 13th century the island of Capense was fortified. In 1268 , the Avogari and their Da Mare allies were besieged there by Sinucello Della Rocca , in vain due to a lack of boats.

In the 14th century, Centuri was established as an appanage by Galeotto da Mare for his natural son Crescione, - Nicolas son of Crescione would inherit Morsiglia before shortly afterwards also being lord of Centuri, before entering in 1431 , the fiefdom of San Colombano , from Da Mare .

In 1563 the village of Ortinella was burned by forces of the Algerian army commanded by Mammi Pacha, known as Mami Corso .
In 1592 Genoa imposed its administration on the north of Cap Corse, to the detriment of the da Mare. Thus was born the Provincia di Capo Corso , of Genoese obedience, succeeding the feudatory state of Da Mare-Negroni.

Around 1600 , community of the Da Mare lordship, Centuri was populated by about 700 inhabitants. The places inhabited were Trello, Bovalo, le Merlacce, Lorche, la Casanova, Ortinola, Orneto, Camera, le Casevecchie, le Camelle .

Modern times

Centuri Port Pier.
In the 17th century, Centuri was after Erbalunga , the second busiest port in Corsica, with around a hundred sailors, numerous boats and warehouses ( magazzini ). Three families achieve wealth and nobility: the Cipriani and the Napollones through trade, and the Franceschi shipowners, naval officers, admirals in the service of Tuscany , the Pope or France.

In the 18th century , a generous benefactor endowed Centuri with a pier.

A flourishing commercial port, import operations involved products essential to daily life and trade such as grain, salt, planks, lime, utensils, clothing and earthenware containers. Exports included wine, oil, citrus fruits, timber, grain, tanning bark, cattle and silk cocoons.

1757 - Pascal Paoli decides to make the fishing port of Centuri a port of war.
1767 - In May, Paul Mattei native of Centuri leads an expeditionary force composed of Corsicans and Capicorsins and captures the island of Capraia in Genoa .
1789 - Corsica becomes part of the Kingdom of France.
1790 - With the French Revolution is created the department of Corsica - Prefecture Bastia. The province of Cap Corse is abolished and is divided into four cantons: Capobianco, Seneca, Santa Giulia and Sagro. Rogliano loses his court which is transferred to Bastia.
1791 - Pascal Paoli transfers the bishopric of Corsica to Corte .
1793 - The departments of El Golo (current Haute-Corse) and Liamone (current Corse-du-Sud) are created. Centuri, which has always kept its name, belongs to the pieve of Capobianco. This becomes the canton of Capobianco. Paris declares Paoli an outlaw.
1794 – In February, the port of Centuri (along with Macinaggio) was burned by a flotilla under the English Admiral Samuel Hood .
1801 - The municipality of Centuri is part of the canton of Capobianco in the department of El Golo.
1812 - Each parish opens a cemetery, the dead are no longer buried in churches.
1828 - The canton of Capobianco takes the name of canton of Rogliano 14
1833 - The French language replaces the Italian language.
In the 19th century, the cultivation of citron turned out to be very lucrative. Since then, the rapid decline of agriculture has caused the disappearance of orchards and vines ( 175 ha of vines in 1790, practically more today), accompanied by a significant depopulation (720 inhabitants in 1852 ), but less to that of certain bordering towns, in particular after the First World War (a classic fact in Corsica).

Centuri was at the time of the independent Corsican nation of Pasquale Paoli, the arsenal of the Corsican national navy.

1954 – The municipalities of Ersa , Morsiglia , Rogliano , Tomino and Centuri still form the canton of Rogliano. The municipality of Centuri has 275 inhabitants.
1973 – The canton of Capobianco is created with the imposed merger of the former cantons of Rogliano and Luri . In fact, Centuri is in the new canton of Capobianco