Monaco: history and heritage

About Monaco: history and heritage

By the ULTIMATE Monaco Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Monaco is the second-smallest country in the world, and one of the oldest ruling houses in Europe still lives on its rock. The Grimaldis seized the fortress in 1297; their palace still stands where it stood; and the casino they founded in the 1860s turned a poor principality into Monte-Carlo.

At a glance

Population: 38,367 residents at 31 December 2023 (Monaco Statistics, IMSEE, 2023 census), of 141 nationalities; Monegasques are the largest group, at 9,179 (23.9 per cent), followed by French (22 per cent), Italians (20 per cent) and British (7 per cent).

Names through history: Monoikos (Greek, after a temple of Heracles Monoikos), Portus Herculis Monoeci (Roman), Monaco.

In 1297 a Grimaldi disguised as a monk took the fortress; his family still lives on the rock.

Language: French is official; Monégasque, a Ligurian dialect, is taught in schools.

Area: about two square kilometres.

Monoikos

Greek sailors from Massalia named the harbour after a temple of Heracles Monoikos, and the Romans knew it as the Port of Hercules: the name survives in Port Hercule.

The Grimaldis

In 1215 Genoa built a fortress on the rock. On 8 January 1297 François Grimaldi, disguised as a Franciscan monk, talked his way inside and took it, which is why two sword-wielding monks support the arms of Monaco. The family has ruled ever since, with interruptions, most notably during the French Revolution.

Menton and Roquebrune

Until the nineteenth century Monaco included Menton and Roquebrune, which held most of its farmland and people. After they broke away in 1848, Monaco ceded its rights to them to France in 1861, in return for a payment and recognition of its independence.

Monte-Carlo

Without its farmland, Monaco needed an income. A casino opened in 1863 on the plateau of Les Spélugues, renamed Monte-Carlo in 1866; the railway from Nice arrived in 1868, and Charles Garnier, architect of the Paris Opera, designed the Salle Garnier opera house (1879). In 1869 Monaco abolished direct taxes on its residents.

Science, ballet and racing

Prince Albert I, an oceanographer, founded the Oceanographic Museum, opened in 1910 on the cliff above the sea. Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes made Monte-Carlo their home from 1911, and the Monaco Grand Prix has run through the streets since 1929. In 1956 the American film star Grace Kelly married into the princely family, and the Princess Grace Rose Garden in Fontvieille bears her name.

Our advice: be on the rock for the Changing of the Guard at 11.55, visit the Oceanographic Museum, then walk down to the port and up to the Casino Square in the evening, when Monte-Carlo shows its Belle Époque face.

Sources

Population: Monaco Statistics (IMSEE), 2023 Census; Government of the Principality of Monaco. History: Palais Princier de Monaco; Musée océanographique de Monaco; Government of the Principality of Monaco; Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Monaco”.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Monaco: history and heritage before you go.