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For a long time, it was the only entry point for anyone arriving in Bastia, this square was first used for military exercises before becoming a meeting place for carters.

In former times, a ravine tumbled down to the natural harbour of the - no longer extant - village of Belgodere which stood on the hills above Bastia. It was filled from 1834 in order to extend the square of Porto Vecchio, later called Place d’Armes (a drill-ground), because the garrison of the citadel used to manoeuvre there every day. In 1850, with the purpose of embellishing the southern entrance of the city, the municipal council suggested to enlarge the Place d’Armes, plant trees and use it as a public walk. The first sums were voted in 1852. It took a long time (more than 45 years) to carry out the plan, because of the technical difficulties of the filling up of the place. The square was to become one of the liveliest spots in Bastia. All the carters who arrived in the city met there. It was a sort of lively and noisy caravanserai, because it was the only way to go into the city. (It was well before the tunnel was driven through the rocks under the old port). Every day a great number of carriages were parked there. In 1865, more than six hundred carts rolled across the square every day. In the 1920’s the square became the first official football pitch of the city. It has been given the name of Dominique Vincetti, an underground Résistance fighter wounded to death in 1943.

Bastia

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