Carriolu Miniature Village

In 1997 Jean-Claude Marchi was just an average cheese maker who began to nourish an obsession. Luckily for everyone, his obsession was not a stinky brie, but instead an entire miniature village, carefully constructed in magnificent detail with tiny stones from Corsica.

Visible from the road in the small community of Carriolu, Marchi’s backyard is now completely covered in tiny houses, churches, and bridges, each created by him alone over the last 15 years. In 1997, he laid the groundwork for his village by creating his very first home. It was a modest first step, but as he continued, his miniature world grew larger by the day.

Working at a pace of one small house per week and one larger structure per month, Marchi proceeded without a plan until the crowded backyard was teeming with a pebbled environment that looked like an aerial view of a small Corsican town. Besides its massive scale, and solo creator, the miniature world is truly spectacular in its details.

Foliage lines the streets of the tiny town, and cows even roam outside of stone cottages. From an outsider’s perspective, it looks like the town has everything it could ever need, which only invites the question of whether Marchi has constructed a miniature cheese shop yet.