Seneca, the Greek philosopher who flirted in Luri
And also
The tops
A philosopher, nettles, a desert
The tradition says the Greek philosopher Seneca lived 8 years in exile in Corsica, between 41 to 49 BC, exiled because his mistress was Germanicus’ daughter, Julia.
But did he really come in Luri? In the area, yes, he did. But here especially, we don’t know…
Anyway, Seneca hated Corsica: he wrote it was a deserted land, a barbarian land full of rocks and where people had no bread, no water!
You know what? The legend says a kind of nettle grows here, around the tower of Luri: they call it ortica di Seneca, ″Seneca’s nettle″!
Why? Em, because local families used them to whip Seneca, who loved fooling around with the young girls...
A medieval tower
Well, good: the legend says Seneca transformed the tower into his ivory tower, during his exile. Really??
In fact, this round tower lost in the middle of nowhere was raised in the Middle Ages.
Historian Pietro Filippini called it Torre dei Moto: he said lords da Mare, from Genoa (Italy) put it up in the 15th century.
It was probably a kind of keep for a former fortress. A pretty impregnable castle! Because they used to put tallow on the tower’s walls, outside… very slippery, hey!