The Bonapartes’ town residence, where Napoleon and many of his brothers and sisters were born, was in Ajaccio, a major city and seaport on the island of Corsica. The house is now a museum.
The Bonapartes also had a country residence just outside Ajaccio. Milelli was the summer retreat of the Bonapartes. Its olive groves provided a large part of the family’s income.
In 1793, 24 year old Napoleon Bonaparte failed in his attempt to overthrow veteran Corsican nationalist leader Pascale Paoli and to bring the island under the rule of the French revolutionary government in Paris.
The Bonaparte house in Ajaccio was ransacked, Millelli was set on fire and the Bonapartes were condemned to “perpetual execration and ignominy”. The family was hunted across Corsica and forced to flee to mainland France with the few possessions they could carry.
