Princes and Grimaldis

Church of Saint Devota

Tucked into the little Gaumates valley, the Church of Saint Devota tells Monaco’s loveliest legend. In the early fourth century, a young Christian woman from Corsica, Devota, died a martyr. To keep her body from her persecutors, the faithful placed it in a boat bound for Africa.

1.1 km to the next stop

Prince’s Palace

Here stands the Prince’s Palace, the beating heart of the Rock. The story begins in 1191, when Genoa acquired this headland and built a fortress to watch over the coast. On the night of 8 January 1297, so the tradition goes, François Grimaldi, nicknamed Malizia, the cunning one, knocked at the gate disguised as a Franciscan monk.

200 m to the next stop

Monaco Cathedral

This dazzling white facade belongs to the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate. It looks old, yet it is fairly young: built between 1875 and 1903 in a Romanesque Byzantine style, with white stone quarried at La Turbie, up in the hills. It replaced a thirteenth century parish church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and some of its treasures were kept.

370 m to the next stop

Oceanographic Museum

Clinging to the cliff, eighty five metres above the waves, this stone palace is devoted to the sea. It was the dream of Prince Albert I, known as the scientist prince. Passionate about oceanography, he led dozens of expeditions aboard his yachts, hauling unknown creatures up from the deep.

820 m to the next stop

Prince’s Car Collection

This collection was born from one man’s passion: Prince Rainier III, a great lover of cars. From the 1950s onwards he bought and restored models that moved him, eventually gathering around a hundred vehicles. Long displayed on the Fontvieille terraces, the collection moved to Quai Antoine I, on the harbour, at the initiative of Prince Albert II.

1.2 km to the next stop

Monte-Carlo Casino

Here is Monte Carlo’s most famous landmark. In the mid nineteenth century Monaco was poor: Menton and Roquebrune, its main sources of income, had broken away. Prince Charles III then bet on gambling and sea bathing.

50 m to the next stop

Hôtel de Paris

Facing the Casino, the Hôtel de Paris opened in 1864, barely a year after the Société des Bains de Mer was founded. François Blanc wanted to give wealthy gamblers a palace worthy of their dreams, and he succeeded. Crowned heads, writers, film stars: they have all passed beneath these chandeliers.

130 m to the next stop

Monte-Carlo Opera (Salle Garnier)

On the sea side, the Casino hides a jewel: the Salle Garnier, home of the Monte Carlo Opera. Charles Garnier, who had just completed the Paris Opera, designed it in record time, and it opened in January 1879 with the great actress Sarah Bernhardt on stage. The hall is small, just over five hundred seats, but dazzlingly rich: gold, frescoes, reliefs and red velvet.