Caracu - The Abandoned Hamlet of Meria
Caracu: Village abandoned since 1925
One of those Corsican ghost villages that attract visitors, the abandoned village or hamlet of Caracu is made up of around twenty houses and an old chapel (Saint Sébastien), most of which are still standing, but whose dilapidated state makes access dangerous. While most of the roofs have fallen in, some of the walls are as high as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and threaten to topple to the ground at any moment. Caution is advised.
Caracu is located in the commune of Meria on the eastern slopes of Cap Corse. It is isolated in the scrubland, with a footpath as its only access.
The hiking trail
The abandoned village of Caracu is located in the commune of Meria, on the eastern slopes of Cap Corse, an hour's drive from Bastia.
The path starts at the cemetery in the village of Meria, which you have to cross before entering a forest of cork oak, heather and arbutus. At the start of the path, there are some lovely views of the sea, with glimpses of the islands of Capraia and Elba.
The walk to the abandoned village of Caracu is pleasant and easy, with little change in altitude and a well-maintained path.
Former mining village
A municipality with just 100 inhabitants, Meria had 10 times that number in the 19th century, a time when there were many miners exploiting the region's antimony.
Antimony deposits
Along with the communes of Ersa and Luri, and in particular the Castello vein, the village of Meria was known for its deposits of antimony, a toxic mineral used in alloys with arsenic to harden heavy metals such as lead. Like asbestos on the western side of Cap Corse, the island's antimony mines helped make France the world's leading antimony producer at the end of the 19th century.
Antimony mining gave the region a boost for over sixty years, before the First World War put an end to it. The cessation of mining led to a decline in the population, as can be seen today in the former miners' villages, which have now become ruined hamlets.
Other abandoned hamlets in the region
The hamlet of Caracu is not an isolated case in this region of the Cape. Along with Caracu, other hamlets made up the municipality of Meria, including Pastina, Muracce and Murteta, which were destroyed by barbarian raids in the 17th century.
