Monaco, il palazzo dei Principi

 When the white and red flag flies on the palace, it means that the prince is present and the public is not allowed to visit. A spectacle that always attracts many curious onlookers is the changing of the guard at precisely 11:55, when the prince’s French carabinieri parade in perfect synchronization in front of the entrance. The palace was built where a Genoese fortress from 1215 once stood, and its current form is the result of a renovation that took place in the nineteenth century. Visitors can see the galleries decorated with sixteenth-century mythological frescoes, which lead to the sumptuously decorated representative apartments, the throne room, the Mazarino hall and the Louis XV hall, the honor court, quadrangular and in Italian style, with a double Carrara marble staircase, which in the beautiful season serves as a backdrop for concerts; the seventeenth-century palatine chapel and the Ste-Marie tower. In one wing, there is also the Musée Napoléonien and the Monégasque Archives. The Palace is open to the public from June to September from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. From the outside, there is a beautiful view of Port de Fontvieille, one of the Principality’s industrial areas. Always below the Palace, the new stadium and the Princess Grace rose garden are visible, which boasts no less than 3500 plants of 150 different varieties. A pleasant walk in the old district leads to the Cathedral and the exotic gardens. The former, in Romanesque-Byzantine style, was built in 1884 with the white stone of La Turbie. The most precious pieces are found in the Chapelle des Princes, where the Grimaldis are buried. Princess Grace’s tomb is nearby and is always adorned with fresh roses. In the nearby Town Hall square is also the chapel of the Miséricorde from 1638.