Descendants of the Maniots in Corsica marked 350 years since their ancestors reached the island, as Greek MP Filippos Fortomas joined anniversary events in the village of Cargèse in October.
Fortomas is MP for the Cyclades and chairs the Hellenic Parliament’s Special Permanent Committee on Hellenism of the Diaspora. The double anniversary also marked 250 years since the founding of the local community.
His visit focused on how the descendants of the Maniots in Corsica keep their Greek heritage alive, his office said.
“I am very happy to be here with the very active Greek community of Corsica,” Fortomas said after the trip.
“It is of particular importance for Hellenism that, three and a half centuries after the arrival of the first Maniots in Corsica, their descendants continue to keep alive the memory of their Greek origin,” he said.
Fortomas meets local leaders
In Cargèse, Mayor Jean-Claude Donzella welcomed the MP. So did Alexia Tzanetaki and Jean-Noël Dapelo-Manchia, who are of Greek descent and lead local associations of Corsica’s Greeks.
At their meetings, they briefed him on work to protect the Greek heritage of the area. They also discussed ways to strengthen links between the Greek community of Cargèse and Greece.
Additionally, the Pan-Maniot Union “I Mani” took an active part, showing its strong ties with the descendants of the Maniots in Corsica. Its president, Dimitra Kouvari, led a large delegation.
Metropolitan Dimitrios of France, Exarch of Europe, also attended, together with Greek Ambassador to France Ioannis-Miltiadis Nikolaidis.
Fortomas also spoke about the role of the state. “The Greek State is always present and in constant contact with the historic communities of the Greek diaspora,” he said.
Exile and a new village
Cargèse held its main commemorations on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October, Corse-Matin reported. First, participants threw flowers into the sea in memory of those who died crossing from Mani.
On the Sunday, the village hosted the metropolitan and the ambassador at a Greek church liturgy for the first time. Later, in a procession, young men fired rifle shots, a tradition of the Maniots in Corsica.
The first Maniots in Corsica had left Vitylo, in Mani in the southern Peloponnese, in 1676, the French newspaper said. Genoa first settled them at Paomia, but they had to leave in 1731.
After years in Ajaccio, they finally made their home in the hillside village in 1776. Earlier in 2026, a DNA study traced Maniot ancestry to Bronze Age Greeks.
A concert on Friday 23 October in Cargèse continues the anniversary program, the West Corsica tourism office said. The next major jubilee falls in 2076, Corse-Matin reported.
Source: ERT News
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