I get it. I really do. The opulence of the tiny Principality of Monaco is alluring. Visitors come – typically just for a day or so as a novelty to add another country to their counts – and they are enthralled by the glimpses into lives they (we) will never have. $100,000+ cars are common here, sort of like spotting a Prius back at home. Yachts exceeding $100 million line the marina. Fleets of Rolls Royces ferry high rolling gamblers through private entrances into casinos that charge visitors just to see from the inside. Fancy new apartment buildings anchor the most expensive real estate market in the world, with prices averaging more than $10,000 per square foot.

It is cool, I suppose, in a way. It is intoxicating. It is a chance to wonder what a life filled with every possible luxury might be like, living in the single square mile of tax haven that is Monaco. It is beautiful, it is fancy… and as I’ve said before, I hate it.

Well, I’m back in Monaco. TRT writer Hedy Maessen is visiting me in Nice, and since she has never been to the tiny country, well, here we are. Our day begins with the part of Monaco everyone sees, and that I can’t stand: Monte Carlo. The casino is shiny, the landscaping beautiful and clean. The cars are sure fancy, and the shopping seems almost as expensive.

We make our way to the yacht harbor, where even the smallest boats that can afford to dock here are probably larger than my apartment, and the docking fees well more than my rent. There is a storefront for super yacht insurance, so that probably doesn’t apply to us. People pass by, and we wonder if they are locals or other visitors like us admiring glitzy Disneyland.

But then, after a marketplace lunch of rather good and affordable pasta and a fried ravioli filled with Swiss chard called barbajuan, said to be Monaco’s national dish, we meander up the hill to Monaco Ville, to the older part of the tiny principality. And here, we find that even in the uber-wealthy enclave, there is some rather cool history. It is another side of Monaco, one less shiny and less glamorous, but to me, a bit more worthwhile.

While there has been a settlement in what is now Monaco since at least Greek times (who called the place Monoikos), our story begins in 1297. For the past hundred years, Monaco had been part of the Republic of Genoa. Well, a Genoese noble named Francesco Grimaldi (part of a family that would come to define much of the Genoese golden age, building many of the palaces that still stand today) and his men apparently captured the Genoese fortress at Monaco by dressing as Franciscan monks and gaining access that way.

For the next hundred or so years, various territorial disputes would see the Grimaldi family losing and regaining the territory of Monaco, as well as neighboring Menton (more on that later), until in 1419, the family officially purchased the entirety of what is now the Principality and the French cities of Menton and Roquebrune from the Crown of Aragon. They have never permanently ceded control since.

During the centuries, Monaco vacillated between being a vassal of France or of an Italian kingdom (like Piedmont-Sardinia), playing on alliances to maintain independence. The Principality was conquered by French revolutionary forces in 1793, returned to the Grimaldi in 1814, conquered by the Axis powers in 1943 (first Italy and then Nazi Germany), and returned to the Grimaldi again after. It was a sort of merry-go-round, the type of which many small states tend to go through.

Territory likewise was a bit of a fluctuation. Menton and Roquebrune were annexed in 1346 and 1355, respectively, increasing Monaco’s acreage by about 900%. But in 1860, when Piedmont-Sardinia ceded the County of Nice to France in return for help during the Second War of Italian Independence (click here to read about Old Nice and its time under Savoy rule), those two towns voted to leave Monaco and ended up joining France to protest the high taxes in Monaco (the joke is now on them), shrinking the Principality back to its original – and current – size. (Funny enough, it was less than a decade later that the success of the Monte Carlo Casino and the money it brought with it led to income tax being abolished by Prince Charles III.)

As for the title of the ruler, Prince has been in play since Honore II in 1612, although it really wasn’t until more recent times that the Monegasque (the demonym for those who live here) Princes actually lived full-time in Monaco, preferring to reside in Paris for most of the prior centuries.

Now it is fine and good to have history – and with more than 600 years of basically uninterrupted Grimaldi control, there is plenty of time for it – but being able to see and experience that is a totally different concept. But all it takes is the beginning of a walk up the Rampe de la Major, a stone walkway that leads from the Marche de la Condamine (and my lunch) into Monaco Ville to realize that the history is still celebrated here in Monaco. The route winds its way up the “rock” on which the city and its fortifications were built, and makes its way through 15th century and earlier gates as it does so.

Arriving at Place du Palais, the central square fronting the Prince’s palace and offices, visitors are greeted with a statue of Francesco Grimaldi himself (in his monk’s disguise), and stunning views looking out at the tiny nation. Piles of cannonballs act as period decoration, with the cannon themselves adorning the centuries-old battlements.

The palace itself dates in part all the way back to the original Genoese castle constructed in 1191, although much of its modern appearance is post-French occupation when the revolutionary forces stripped a good portion of the castle fortifications. Portions can be toured, although it is closed during my visit, but will have reopened by the time this piece is published (an end of March 2026 reopening date is estimated). Today, the more palatial looking portion is the Prince’s residence, while the castle part on the right hand side is apparently offices, according to what I overheard a tour guide say.

Sculptures here are modern, but celebrate the history of the city-state. The former Prince Rainier III, who ruled from 1949 to 2005, instituted a monumental public art program centered around Monaco Ville. So strolling the square, the parks (especially the magnificent cliff-topping Saint-Martin Gardens), and the walkways will result in a similar stroll through Monaco’s history. From Francesco Grimaldi to Rainier III himself (and his movie star wife, Princess Grace Kelly), visitors can meet many of the local royalty.

Of course, those truly wishing to pay homage to the Grimaldi family need to visit Monaco’s cathedral. This iteration opened in 1905, and is built on top of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, which dated to 1252. While much of the interior is bare stone, a loop behind the altar takes visitors to the resting place of the ruling princes (and even some before the title was established), as well as Princess Grace. (She seems to be the only Princess interred here, or at least the only one honored by having a separate tomb.)

From here, we take a route past the 1910 Oceanographic Institute (where Jacques-Yves Cousteau was director from 1957 to 1988) and through the old city itself back to the palace.

The old city is tiny (remember, it is just a small portion of a country that is itself only a single square mile), and while the colorful buildings are lovely, the place seems empty on a Saturday afternoon. I would guess people live here, but with few tourists reaching past the palace, and even relatively few making it that far, it is a quiet wander even if the residents are around.

Monaco is not known for its history. It is famous for the lifestyles of the incredibly wealthy people who call the tiny country home. But for those who wish an experience beyond just gazing at the glitz, there is a bit more to be had up atop the hill in Monaco Ville. It is what 600 years of Grimaldi rule celebrates enough to maintain rather than to tear down in favor of more luxurious condos. And yeah, it’s even kind of cool.

Like it? Pin it!