Corsica and killings culminated in the assassination of Prefect Claude Érignac in 1998. In 2013, Corsica hosted the first three stages of the 100th Tour de France, which passed through the island for the first time in the event's 110-year history. Corsica was formed about 250 million years ago with the uplift of a granite backbone on the western side. About 50 million years ago sedimentary rock was pressed against this granite, forming the schists of the eastern side. It is the most mountainous island in the Mediterranean, a "mountain in the sea". It is also the fourth largest island in
Ancient Corsica scholarly publications. This results both from the relative insignificance of Corsica in antiquity and from the disinterest of the French academy in the island. Compared with the neighbouring island of Sardinia, which has received significant attention from Italian scholars, research on ancient Corsica is still in its infancy. In the 19th century, the General-inspector Prosper Mérimée visited Corsica to record the historical monuments on the island. In 1840, he published his findings as "Notes d'un voyage en Corse". Intensive research of the early history of Corsica began in the 20th century with Roger Grosjean. A sign of the neglect of