At that time, malaria decimated Porto-Vecchio

Aah, Porto-Vecchio... its nice beaches, the sun... Oh, sure, but, in the past, it wasn’t a heaven on earth: in the Middle-Ages, pirates and Saracens used to live here! And to crown it all, Porto-Vecchio was literally depopulated by malaria... because small swamps used to swarm along the shore. Finally in the 16th century, Saint-Georges' company (the first bank in the world), from Genoa republic, expelled brigands and founded the city of Porto-Vecchio, fortified few years later...