Description of the attraction
The Princely Palace is the official residence of the Prince of Monaco. The ancient building, built in 1191, was originally a fortress belonging to the Republic of Genoa. Since the end of the thirteenth century, the building served as the residence of the Grimaldi family. After the capture of the fort and the principality in 1297, the Grimaldi ruled in Monaco until the seventeenth century.
The palace is located on a unique and spectacular geological site - a rock over 60 meters high in the city center. Its galleries, built like an amphitheater at the foot of the Alps, overlook the Mediterranean Sea.
The ancient Genoese fortress was rebuilt by the owners several times, receiving new constructive and decorative elements. Charles Grimaldi, who led Monaco between 1331 and 1357, greatly expanded the fort by adding two large wings. One of them is located opposite the rampart, and the second overlooks the sea. These transformations changed the appearance of the citadel, but the fortifications were fully functional for the next thirty years. The fortress was often bombed, it was destroyed and rebuilt.
In the fifteenth century, the fortress on the rock was reconstructed, the area increased and a garrison of 400 soldiers was placed in it. In the same period, the eastern part of the complex was strengthened, the main building of three levels, protected by high walls, was erected and connected to the towers of St. Mary, Middle and South. Loggias were built on two floors with five arches on each floor. The Gallery of Hercules, the Throne Room and the Main Courtyard were built during the Renaissance, in the fifteenth century. The current rulers have built a new wing, which houses the private apartments, museum and archives of the princely palace.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the palace and its inhabitants became a symbol of glamor and splendor, along with Monte Carlo and the French Riviera. Today the palace is the home of Albert II, Prince of Monaco.
The Palace is open for visiting from June to September. The 17th century "Grand Apartment", the Italian and Hercules galleries, the Louis XV room, the Mazarin room, the Throne room, the Chapel and the Chambers of York, where there is a table in the style of Louis XIV, decorated with marble mosaics, on which all official acts. The main courtyard is paved with a mixture of pebbles and stone slabs, the ceilings of the premises are painted with frescoes by Genoese artists of the sixteenth century.
