Initially it was “a cappella” in the parish church of Cauro. Then came the time of growth, then of modernity and territorial development. Journey through the centuries with twenty researchers and academics, under the scientific direction of André Flori and Hélène Paolini-Saez.
We knew the dam and the lake. We are now discovering a wider reality with a very ancient trajectory, a rich geological, architectural and religious heritage or even strong linguistic specificities.
Tolla-Todda, in the heart of Val Prunelli, unrolls an intimate and collective fresco that links prehistory to the contemporary. Nearly twenty researchers* echoed it through a thick volume, Tolla-Todda, history, language and heritagerecently published by Alain Piazzola editions.
The story, placed under the scientific direction of André Flori, president of the Corsica Genealugia association and Hélène Paoli-Saez, director of the Regional Laboratory of Archeology – LRA – is rigorous, fed by archives, various studies and testimonies.
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But first, it’s local elected officials who have stepped forward. ” The book was born from the will of the municipality of Todda”observe the authors.
It’s about keeping track of all that has been, battling loss and oblivion. ” It therefore seemed important to us to collect, from the most ancient sources, all the data available in the field of genealogy, heritage, architecture, life in the village before and after the construction of the dam, toponymy, archeology “, develops Dominique Vincenti, the mayor with his municipal councilors.
He has a quote in mind that he considers essential,” know where we come from to know where we are going “, machine, “ we are convinced that the future must be able to be built on knowledge of the past and on what it teaches us ».
Very quickly, the villagers appropriated the project and opened” without hesitation their homes but also their old photo albums and share their memories. Through their testimonies, their story and that of their elders re-emerged. Thank you for this warm intimacy “, welcome to the authors.
Fesch collection
For all of them it is also a question of the bond that binds them to past generations, of a feeling of belonging to a territory, of a common identity. This is built in stages, from a series of successive Tollas, different and similar at the same time, since the dawn of time.
The first inhabitants of the site, probably between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, would have chosen to look down on the valley, Castellu di a Romana, Monte Niellu or Monte Rottu and Punta di Traggietone. As evidenced by, among other things, a rhyolite tool, a dolerite hammer, a few shards of molded pottery or a blue glass half bead left there for eternity. Geographical dominance and economic dominance undoubtedly go together.
But we will have to wait for the XVand century and 1489, so much so that Todda appears on the map of Corsica or rather in the pages of a register” established by the Genoese administration to list the places whose inhabitants must pay the bounty ».
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In the XVIand, the town is the starting point of the episcopal visits of Monsignor Giustiniani, around 1531, of Monsignor Mascardi in 1587. More generally, it is considered as a “capella” of the vast parish church of Cauro, i.e. a small habitat grouped around its church . This ” San Leonardo de Todda is described as being built on a steep point, not far from the houses. The building is modest, covered in wooden shingles, the floor is dirt and the walls are not stripped. » At the end of the XVIIand, Todda has 59 fires or 177 inhabitants. Families are divided into 3 categories, “the vassals of the feudal lords of Ornano, those of other feudal lords and those of the Serenissima Republic “, we list.
The demographic curve will then ascend, up to 557 inhabitants in 1891. They are mostly ploughmen, labourers, landowners, shepherds, blacksmiths, millers or shoemakers. Now there are also teachers, soldiers, bailiffs in the village. This population feels the need for a little spiritual renewal and above all for a bigger, more beautiful church. The reconstruction of the Saint-Léonard parish church was completed in 1893. Jean-Noël Martini, the mayor and Ange Pascal Seta, the priest, ensured that the construction site progressed rapidly. Inside, the paintings from the Fesch collection make the founding religious episodes accessible to all parishioners.
Genealogical Dictionary
The time has come to also open up to spatial planning. The dynamic materializes with the “ development of the road linking Bastilicaccia, Ocana, Todda and Bastelica. The Way of Great Communication n° 3 » which would later become the departmental road n° 3, was thus established in the 1880s. As an extension of the major road works, on 10 April 1899 the mayor of Todda had the good idea to request the construction “of aqueducts intended for the irrigation of crops in place of the ditches that cross the roadway and make it impassable in some points”.
As for their habitat, the Tollais now tend to be big-thinking, modern, and sometimes ostentatious. In the landscape they arise chalet ” and other ” big house “. In 1921, some Russians landed from the liner The Ward find an oasis of peace in the village. In return they bring a little architectural exoticism.
In a more recent period, the rediscovered memories refer, among other things, to the school and its young pupils, to the postal service carried out by Gioacchino Marti until 1952, then by Antoine-Paul Bernardi and then by François Muselli. In the alleys of Todda the silhouettes stand out, among others, of Aunt Bianca Marti, the first ” village baker selling bread », by Félix Salini and Dominique Marti, the butchers or even Aunt Catalina the butcher in the 60s, by Josephine Marti, by Mathieu Casalta, the grocers. The end of the XXand and the beginning of the XXIand draw other limits and contours. ” The village changed a lot in the 60s and 70s. “In the process, it will pass” from subsistence economy to tourism-oriented economy”.
A beautiful book enriched by precise toponymy and an engaging genealogical dictionary. A generous way to unearth and share local memory.
* Collaborators on the work: Nadia Ameziane-Federzoni, Éric Casalta, Philippe Colombani Christian Nicolas, Antoine Franzini, Benoît Gérardin, Claude Pierre Giansily, Francesco Maria Luneschi, Jean-Baptiste Marti, Jean-François Mata, Marie Madeleine Ottaviani-Spella, Élisabeth Pereira, Jean-Baptiste Salvadori, Marie Viallon, Xavier Villat.
