The Secret History Of Monaco’s Palace - 800 Years Of Power, Intrigue And Hidden Tunnels

It is one of the most famous emblems of European monarchy, the Prince's Palace in Monaco, a seat of power in one of the world's smallest states. Monaco without a palace would be like Monaco without a prince. Construction started on this building in the 13th century on a steep rock some 65 meters above sea level. There were also few means of elevation, so they would have supplied the materials from the top of the wall going down on scaffolding along the rock. It is now one of the main strongholds on the Mediterranean, but the palace was almost razed to the ground during a siege in 1506. It was rebuilt to the highest construction standards for the time. They made the perfect fortress that was continually modernized through to the 18th century. Beneath the ramparts, the builders dug down into the rock, creating hundreds of meters of underground passages home to a powerful line of fire. Unlike the Maginot Line, this one was actually used for something. It wasn't taken. The palace still hides some incredible secrets, an underground cistern constructed in the 16th century by the best engineers from Genoa. The cistern's capacity is 1,700 cubic meters. That's about the size of an Olympic swimming pool to the closest couple of bathtubs. In the main courtyard, historians made a striking discovery. Hundreds of square meters of frescoes dating back to the Renaissance and hidden behind 19th century paintings. A 3D scanner used for uncovering the secrets of the pyramids revealed parts of the palace that were as yet unknown. It's 800 years of history. There are places that were abandoned due to success in constructions. There's always something new to find. How did this palace, a former fortress, become the seat of power for the sovereigns of Monaco? What kinds of transformations were undertaken to ensure the survival of this tiny state? This is the story of a palace unlike any other. Perched on a rock some 65 meters above sea level, as high as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Prince's Palace in Monaco has looked down over the Mediterranean for almost eight centuries. This rock juts out over the sea, so it's easy to defend. From this dominant position, one can control the flow of ships passing along the coast, so it's a key location and place from which to control the coast. And this palace today is still at the heart of the Monaco power base. The structure is 270 meters long and 150 meters wide, and covers an area three times the size of the Elysee Palace. The north wing is home to administrative and domestic offices. The south wing is where the reception and throne rooms are located. Private apartments set between the gardens and the Place du Palais are home to the royal family. A chapel looks down over the main courtyard, symbolizing the religion of the state. All around, the ancient fortifications are the vestiges of a fortress that was once the heart of the lords of Monaco's defense strategy. It's at once a museum, a place infused with the history of my family. It's a place of work. It's a place of official life, but it's also a seat of power, of course. And it is the historical link between the Grimaldi family, the Prince of Monaco, and the population. An historic and strategic place, because beyond its glamorous image, the palace is also a seat of power, protected round the clock, and one which has welcomed some of the world's most powerful people over the centuries. It's the headquarters of official political life. It's where important decisions are made. The palace is the central location in the Principality, and I believe it has contributed a great deal to its fame and its independence. An eminently political structure whose story began 800 years ago beneath the hot Mediterranean sun. July 2nd, 1191. Having traveled some 180 kilometers from Genoa in modern-day Italy, the Genoese army took possession of an isolated territory, Monaco. A bare rock, only accessible from the sea, but greatly desired by the powerful Republic of Genoa. Genoa was a powerful city, and wanted to grow its power by expanding its borders. Indeed, territory was the only real indicator of power in the Middle Ages. The Genoese were led by Fulc de Castello, and started work on the first fortress to be built in Monaco. This was an essential point of defense in a Europe prey to incessant feudal warring. Little remains today of the fort they built, but a few rare archives in the last vestiges indicate the shape it once took. It was built on the western end of the rock, and would have had three rectangular towers, the Tour du Midi, the Tour du Milieu, and the Tour Sainte-Marie. Crenelated curtain walls or ramparts some nine meters high extended out to the west towards the Tour de Ceraval. This structure would have enabled two main defensive fronts, one facing inland and the other towards the sea. The last remaining traces of this fortress can be found beneath the roof, in the attics of the east wing of the palace today. The Tour du Milieu here is the only one of the three towers on the Place du Palais that remains standing. There was a hole here which has now been filled in, and which back then was a passage through to the curtain walls. Here you can see the traces of the former death hole in the tower, which dates back to the very origins of the fortress. This is one of the original elements, and this same stone was used two centuries later to build the fortifications at the rear of the palace. To ensure the defense of their new territory, they had to work really fast. And to do that, the Genoese had one key asset, construction materials naturally present on the rock. They weren't on the Loire, so they had to build using materials they could find on site. You can see bits and pieces of debris, terracotta and stones in the wall, a mixture of materials one would easily have found locally. Once the work was complete, the Genoese lords moved into a clutch of dwellings along the east wing. The garrison and stables were in the north wing. The courtyard was accessible via a single passage, and in the 13th century would have covered around 3,500 square meters, which is twice the size of what is there today. This was the heart of the fortress, bordered by the curtain walls, and then over the centuries, the courtyard was reduced as the building was extended. Back then, it would have been an earth floor. There would have been stone and constructions, but with no particular decoration. We weren't yet in a time of princes or palaces. It was a time of lords, so the priority was securing a stronghold before any thought would have been given to the splendors of the court. But the Genoese defense had one major failing, the port, which could easily be captured by any potential invader. To protect it, they started work on a second fortress. It has long disappeared, but a painting and a few reports from the period give an indication of what it might have resembled. With two square towers and one round one, it would have had curtain walls 1.8 meters thick. The bastion would have housed a very sophisticated arsenal, four bolt throwers, two magonelles, and two trebuchets. Over the centuries, and during the Middle Ages in particular, the Rock of Monaco was repeatedly equipped with heavy weapons to defend it. The lords of Monaco knew that to safeguard the rock, they had to prevent attackers arriving at the foot of the ramparts and using ladders to climb up and get inside the town. Throughout the centuries, their aim was to ensure they always had the best military equipment while preserving older weaponry that could still be used. As such, in the 17th and 18th centuries, they still had 16th century cannon here that had been preserved in good working order. They still continued, however, to equip themselves with more modern solutions. In less than 500 years, the Genoese transformed the Rock of Monaco into a stronghold ready to resist any attack. But they didn't know that the biggest threat they would face would come from within their own walls. January 8th, 1297. Two men knocked on the door of the fortress in Monaco. They looked innocent enough and barely caught the attention of the guards. Yet one of them was Francesco Grimaldi, member of an exiled eminent Genoese family. Francesco Grimaldi was disguised as a Franciscan monk seeking shelter for the night and like a Trojan horse, revealed sword hidden beneath his habit and with his companions in arms, took the Genoese fortress in a surprise attack. This attack earned him the nickname Il Malizia or the malicious one. It also earned him control of the Rock of Monaco, the first of the Grimaldis to claim such an honor. A century later, a great wall was constructed right around the rock. A curtain wall of crenellations pierced with murder holes looking down over the rocks at up to 70 meters above sea level. The defense of a city is a lot to do with inspiring fear. There's also an ostentatious aspect to such fortifications that was common in ancient times, demonstrated by those cities that were fortified under Augustus, for example, with big walls that weren't particularly functional. That was still happening in the Middle Ages and clearly on the side looking down over the sea, this wall served no real defensive function, but it was part of a uniform hole allowing the fortress to dominate further and allowed guards to move around on the upper part of the fortifications. From their fortress, the Grimaldis looked down over the Mediterranean and a territory covering 25 square kilometers upon which they claimed their independence. They were now in a position of power, enemy to those in similar positions, which meant being exposed to grave danger. Such a position of strength on the edge of territory held by the Genoese would inevitably soon come under attack. In two centuries, the Grimaldi managed to turn Monaco into a symbol of resistance to Genoese domination. But in 1506, in the powerful Republic of Genoa, people began calling for the heads of the Grimaldis. That fortress belongs to the Republic. The Grimaldis have occupied it illegally. The usurper continues to plunder across the sea and must be punished. Ambrosio Giardo, an engineer and spy, was dispatched to Monaco. A siege was planned, but nobody would attack a town they didn't know, so the Genoese sent their agents. These included Giardo, who was a military engineer and almost certainly noted down details of the fortifications. Giardo discovered an aging fortress with curtain walls that were only 1.8 meters thick. It wasn't strong enough to withstand the cannonballs that had been in use since the fort. The fort was destroyed in the 14th century. On December 7th, 1506, the Genoese army set up camp on the coast near Monaco and deployed their artillery. Hundreds of munitions with a range of 600 meters would enable them to breach the fortress. Artillery is both a weapon of mass destruction as well as being a psychological weapon. There have been towns that have surrendered simply on seeing the cannon they were facing. The fortification was built for the monogasque, to which was added the additional stress of the threat of sapping. This technique is used in siege operations when the attackers dig tunnels beneath the fortifications and place barrels of gunpowder within. The explosion would make the walls above collapse, leaving a breach for the attackers to penetrate. In an attempt to fend off such attack, Monaco lord Lucian Grimaldi's men were deployed along the ramparts. Buckets of water attached to the walls were used to monitor for any underground movement. Vibration detection systems could be used to monitor the approach of the attack. That's what happened here, as there was a lot of rock and it was pretty high. A tunnel that led beneath the ramparts would have to have passed through the rock. In an attempt to intercept the enemy sappers before they reached the wall, defensive tunnels were dug out in front of the ramparts. These competing tunnels were very popular in the 15th century, and there were some amazing examples where you had counter tunnels hitting tunnels. At that point, they tried to smoke out the tunnel or throw boiling water down them to burn the enemy sappers. The tunnels were a maximum of 150 centimeters high, so it could be very frightening, but very difficult to do. On January 26th, the order to attack was finally given. This time, the artillery men were located less than 400 meters from the Ceraval fortifications. They hit Monaco with heavy fire, day and night. By dawn on the third day, 80 meters of the ramparts had been destroyed. A huge breach opened up on the fortress's northern side. The breach was opened at the end of January, and the Genoese could have attacked right then, but they didn't dare because behind them, there was still more artillery and more men. The soldiers refused to attack. It took another month of bombardments for them to consider the breach as big enough to attempt an attack. But this month of respite they'd given the Monogasques allowed them to create a second fortification made from barrels filled with earth, mattresses, blankets, and trees that had been growing on the rock. Behind this, they had troops with light and medium artillery. On the morning of March 19th, the final assault began. A first wave of 400 men began ascending the steep slopes of the rock. Lucien knew the attack would happen at dawn on the 19th. He established seven battle stations along the breach, which was a lot. Seven stations in a very small area. The Genoese arrived at the breach, but in the end were unable to maintain their attack. Once the best men who'd been sent forward to secure the attack were down, those behind were totally discouraged, withdrawing after several hours of fierce fighting in what was their final assault. The Genoese failed to take the fortress. Galvanized by his victory, Lucien Grimaldi demanded Monaco's independence from King Louis XII of France. Until now, it had been just a simple scenery. The monarch granted his request some six years later. In exchange, the rock would serve as a rear base for his military campaigns in Italy. In 1523, when Lucien died, the people of Monaco mourned the death of a monarch. But behind him, he left a territory that was devastated in a fortress in ruins. It would be an enormous task of future lords to rebuild the city and ensure Monaco would have its rightful place among the kingdoms of Europe. 1532, for more than a decade, two key powers had been fighting for control of Europe. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and François I of France. This conflict had set the kingdoms of Italy ablaze. Honoré I, the new lord of Monaco, was aware of the danger and undertook the reconstruction of his fortress. Honoré I, the son of Lucien, knew that Monaco's mission was now twofold. It had to maintain a military vocation, and at the same time, the residence of the sovereign lord had to reflect the prince, who is yet to be granted the title, but who was already recognized as the territory's sovereign. For Honoré I, there was no question of rebuilding the same structure. The new fortress had to meet the highest construction standards for the time. They made the perfect fortress that was continually modernized through to the 18th century. They had to start from scratch because the walls had been totally destroyed in places, and also because they now thought they were obsolete. Step one involves securing access to the rock, a 250-meter-long ramp with seven gates, two chicanes forming an S-shape. These switchbacks were there for two main reasons. Firstly, because they had to get up a steep slope, rising almost 70 meters in a short distance between the shore and the upper part of the city, and secondly, it was defensive. Any potential attackers could be fended off in these areas by those defending the city. A few meters from the gates to the city, a drawbridge with a ditch in front of it was installed, as well as one for pedestrian access. Lifting arms would bring the decks up, blocking any kind of access. Around it, the high ramparts turned it into the perfect trap. There's a rather high wall here, so those defending the fortress from above could have hurled boiling oil or other things like that on any armies trying to attack, and they were helped further by the fact that trenches would have also been dug out. You can see this rock, which is the natural Monaco limestone, and the fortifications were built from here. So back when they made the gate in 1533, the ground would have been here, more than a meter above the current level. So it was dug out here, strengthening the domination of the fortifications on this side and protecting access to the town. Step two, fortifying the northern side of the rock. This is the Achilles' heel in terms of defending the rock, where the Genoese concentrated their attacks in 1507. To seal it off from potential attack, a series of 20-meter-high fortifications totally enclosed the plateau. The work was carried out very quickly. There was a sense of urgency with regard to building the fortress, as sieges could happen any time, and they had to do it quickly using the means at their disposal. In the Middle Ages, cutting tools were limited. They only really had hammers and chisels. There were also a few means of elevation, so they would have supplied the materials from the top of the wall, going down on scaffolding or ladders along the rock. While the construction moved upwards, materials were supplied from above. The curtain walls were built using dressed stone and rocks found on site. The walls were slightly angled following the shape of the rock. You can see that this wall has no reinforcements against the force of the earth. This means that behind it, the bare rock is very close and the structure has no lateral thrust. This is a relatively thick wall, but one that is not subject to horizontal stress. And you can see today, some 800 years later, it hasn't moved at all. The fortifications were completed with the addition of two huge towers. To the west is the Tour de Tous Les Saints. It has a diameter of 32 meters and had cannon on top reached via a walkway. Like a war machine, it housed all of the fortress's firepower. To the north was the Bastion de Ceraval, a fortification with four unequal sides sloping outwards at the base. Inside, a system of casements gave a firing angle of 180 degrees. This structure had a unique and revolutionary shape for the period. This development first appeared in Italy at the end of the 15th century in the Duchy of Milan. It was then adopted by military engineers, the Duke of Savoy and the King of France in the same context of war in Italy. These architectural principles soon spread right across Europe. These bastions not only provided terraces from where the exterior could be monitored to protect the town, they also offered lateral visibility of the curtain walls and a place to shoot from, offering further protection. These bastions were also filled with earth, which was new when compared to medieval fortifications where you have very thick walls but no infilling with earth. The principle of the modern bastion was to have walls that weren't necessarily all that thick but that were filled in with earth behind to absorb the shock of cannon fire. But it was in the heart of the rock at the foot of the curtain walls that the real military genius of this new fortress can be seen. A network of tunnels dug into the rock and covered with vaulted masonry stretched from the main ramp to the Torre de Tulesa. Along the side, a line of artillery would protect the slopes rising up to meet the walls. This is a place few have had the privilege of exploring. A place that has been wonderfully preserved despite the passing centuries. These were the cannon ports, right? Yes. Here is a cannon port with the holes so they could fire the cannon from its fixed spot. They couldn't be moved so their line of fire was already determined. They were held in place laterally and there was this space here, the bottom part of which was cut out of the rock and then this part which was fully constructed because here we're within the slope. If you were here in the 16th century under siege, it would have been very chaotic with lots of people inside, hurrying back and forth, bringing more ammunition for the cannons. You can imagine the noise and the heat whilst trying to work out what was happening outside, where to aim, and then constantly trying to rearm knowing that the cannon weren't able to fire that much each day. This underground structure has yet to reveal all its secrets. In one tunnel, a heap of rubble hit a mysterious door that hadn't been noticed until now. The way this stone is cut looks a little like the door from 1533. These are lovely well-cut blocks. And on the ground is a scrap of metal from the former grill. And on the left is some flaking steel still fixed to the wall. But we're in the rock here, so it's quite surprising. Maybe there was an opening here. This is a door we need to log and locate and try to establish why it was here. A door like that with a defensive grill on it would have led to the outside. Was it an exit? Why not? It's an opening, given the arch, which must date back to when this tunnel was created. The palace is full of mysterious places like this. Like in this wing, formerly used for living quarters to the south of the palace. This ordinary-looking facade hides something very special that is invisible from the exterior. These two first windows are fake because previously there was a bathhouse attached to this part of the construction. This building, now long gone, housed the palace's thermal baths. After it was removed, this fake facade was constructed to cover the hole. Behind it, there is the rock. And carved out of the rock in the upper part of the bathhouse were cisterns and reservoirs to fill the baths below. But what the architects find most intriguing is in a tiny room hidden behind this door. A room that hides a staircase that leads nowhere. This discovery was updated in 2016 when a revolutionary tool that had been used to uncover the secrets of the Egyptian pyramids was used to better understand this building that is eight centuries old. A high-definition laser that can scan in three dimensions and is accurate to the millimeter. The millions of points obtained with each reading are then assembled on a computer to create a perfect 3D model. So here are the two fake windows. This famous staircase leads nowhere because there is no trace of it in the salons above. So this flight would have extended up here to reach the Piano Nobile and almost certainly connected with the gallery in the bathhouse. A gallery that would have served each room. It took four years to create a perfect virtual copy of the Monaco Palace. This painstaking task has revealed the palace's inaccessible and forgotten areas. There's always something to discover. There's 800 years of history here so naturally there are places that are unexplained. Others that have suffered, been lived in and been abandoned as successive constructions took place. For example, on these plans, the cross-hatched area is still to be surveyed. I'm not expecting to find priceless treasures but there are still some places where we'd like to understand what went on inside them for the sake of finishing the job. In fewer than three decades, the fortress with its impenetrable access and powerful fortifications became a fearsome war machine. Yet it's no impenetrable line of defense would have perhaps proved useless if under siege because the rock lacked an essential element to ensure the survival of its inhabitants, water. Monaco is exceptional. Most Western cities have some kind of water source or river passing through them. But Monaco has no source which puts it in a relatively weak position. To remedy this, Honoré I ordered the construction of a strategic reservoir. In the main courtyard by the arcades in the south wing, a staircase heads down deep into the heart of the palace. It leads to a mysterious room that is cathedral-like in size, invisible from the surface, a former cistern. They needed a water reservoir that could supply the site and could last for the duration of a siege. They considered they'd need enough water to provide two pints to each soldier and each inhabitant every day for two years. The cistern's capacity is 1,700 cubic meters. That's about the size of an Olympic swimming pool to the closest couple of bathtubs. It is dug from the rock, five meters deep, 18 wide, and 20 meters long. Nine huge pillars hold up the vaulted ceiling. Given the topography here, such a construction would have been a real headache for its architects. The ceiling beneath the main courtyard is on a slope. So the top of the arches beneath the main staircase is different than the top of the arches at the other end. To do this, the architects used a clever trick. By varying the spacing between the columns, the curve of the arches gets smaller, which creates a slope in the ceiling. This trick, invisible to the naked eye when one walks around, allowed them to adapt the ceiling to the main courtyard above. There are access hatches which remain today, and we know that these vaulted ceilings are no more than 40 centimeters below the courtyard. Rainwater was all the Monégasques had to fill the reservoir. It was captured on the roofs, and this precious liquid would drain down into the lowest point of the main courtyard. A gutter would then transport the water into the reservoir. This water was used for all the palace's requirements, and until 1867, the inhabitants of the old town were allowed to come and draw water here in the palace's main courtyard. Because water is the most important resource, one of the ways to end a siege was to poison the soldiers, which makes any water reservoir a strategic and sensitive place. That's another reason why this one was located beneath the main courtyard, in the heart of the palace, in an unassailable location. Drawing lessons from 1506, Honoré I ensured his fortress was unassailable and able to resist all attacks and the longest of sieges. But as the Renaissance marked the advent of a new era, Monaco still had a last metamorphosis to undergo, transforming the city into a new city. Turning its fortress into a sumptuous palace. November 21st, 1604. The boy who would become Honoré II was aged just seven when he became the new lord of Monaco. He was placed under the guardianship of his uncle and sent to a magnificent castle in the province of Palma to receive a highbrow education that met the highest standards of the Renaissance. A childhood far from the rock that would profoundly change the destiny of Monaco. Young Honoré II found himself under the guardianship of his uncle, the Prince of Valditaro, the sovereign of the modern-day province of Palma in Italy. Sovereign is the key word here as it was the prince who wanted to obtain a similar title for his nephew. Freed from his guardianship, Honoré II, who until then had just been a simple lord, declared himself Prince of Monaco, a title of sovereignty that should not be contested. For this, he ordered the construction of a new chapel at the end of the main courtyard, a building that would become the very heart of the fortress. The 17th century was an era of absolutism with those who ruled by divine right. It would have been impossible to imagine a palace without a place of worship at its heart, and even more so perhaps for the Grimaldis because they were rulers on a very small scale. There was, even more so than for other Christian rulers, a desire to be part of a religious dimension which was obviously also a source of power and a source of legitimacy for that power. The Baroque style, the sumptuous decoration, the omnipresent marble, all drew the admiration of his contemporaries. The construction lasted for two years and cost 6,000 EQs, a fortune at the time. But the most spectacular work took place in public view. Looking down over the town in the Place d'Armes, the facade, which had until then maintained all the austerity of the 13th century, would become a showcase for the princes of Monaco. They had to demonstrate their power to other heads of state and to the emperor, both inside and out, and for visitors arriving to see the power, riches, and thus the authority of the princes reigning on this rock. Between the Tour du Midi and the Tour du Milieu, the ground floor was studded with rectangular windows. On the next two floors, a loggia, with wide arcades opening out onto the Place d'Armes. A further level covered the whole building and was used for the staff. The curtain wall disappeared, and the Tour du Milieu absorbed into the structure. This work allowed for the creation of fabulous salons, like the Mirror Gallery. This new home that was constructed in front of the former curtain wall showcased a regal kind of architecture that might be perceived as a theatrical backdrop, befitting a sovereign who needed to show his power to his subjects. Today, it is in this Mirror Gallery that the prince and princess gather with their children and close family to watch the parade and festivities of the 19th of November when they celebrate the national holiday. Their sovereignty now recognized, the princes had to establish their reputation amongst the great European courts. In 1675, Louis I, the son of Honoré II, ordered the construction of a new entrance into the palace, the Porte d'Honneur. In the courtyard, a monumental staircase was modeled on the staircase in the Château de Fontainebleau, one of the most prestigious residences of the French monarchy. He wanted to be in King Louis XIV's good books. Louis I was very close to Louis XIV and wanted to both pay him homage and to recreate something of the splendor of Versailles. High-ranking guests should be dazzled by the power and wonder of the architecture right from the Place du Palais and the Porte d'Honneur, and they should witness that power right up to the feet of the sovereign. And at the top of this staircase is the throne room, so that was a logical upwards progression to power. Above the throne room in the south wing of the palace were apartments for visiting dignitaries. The walls were covered with wall hangings, the carvings with gold leaf, like here in the York room, where the brother of the King of England breathed his last on September 17th, 1767. This wing is all about diplomacy and ostentation. The dwelling is no longer just the dwelling of a lord or a sovereign, rather a dwelling for receiving. This royal bedroom is the kind of room one might find in the king's or queen's apartments in Versailles. And the decoration, which on the ceiling reflected the Grimaldi's renown, is like the apotheosis of the recognition of the princes of Monaco. When they were granted the title of foreign prince by Louis XIV. This decoration posed a real problem for its architects, because these vaulted ceilings and their 80 kilogram lights could have weakened the building. Fortunately, a new technique had just emerged, which involved making roofs like an upturned boat hull. This type of framework was taken from shipbuilding. It looks a bit like an upturned boat hull. They used this kind of framework when the walls were too thin and light, and which might have started to pull apart under the weight. The idea thus was to send all the stress and weight through the supports with no diagonal loads, only vertical ones. In less than a century, the fortress had been transformed. This military bastion was now a sumptuous palace to rival the greatest European courts. A transformation that was mainly attributed to Honoré II and Louis I. But a recent discovery has once again shaken things up. A discovery that has captivated art historians the world over. June, 2015, two electricians were about to start work in the Salon Matignon next door to the throne room. That morning, they were due to cut a channel in the wall to run an electric cable. But their work led to an incredible discovery, a tiny fragment covered with red and green pigment. We decided to check right then if there was a fresco beneath the existing paintings. And we discovered two motives that were extremely well-preserved, a bouquet of plants and apples and the skull of an animal with horns. An extraordinary survey was then carried out across the palace. A first fresco covering 40 square meters was revealed in the Salon Matignon after 18 months of work. In the main courtyard, other paintings were revealed, all of them dating back to the late Renaissance. It's an incredible thing that one can still make such discoveries in the palace when one believes one already knows all the treasures hidden within. Seeing these unique motives is simply marvelous. But who made these frescoes? Who was the artist and who commissioned them? Then an incredible discovery was made. Some of the motifs had strange similarities with the frescoes in a palace on the outskirts of Genoa, painted by an artist by the name of Niccolosio Grinello. These similarities were very striking. For example, here you have a satyr that we found in the Hercules Gallery. And here is the same satyr motif, painted by Grinello, in a palace on the outskirts of Genoa. These initial comparisons are very exciting and are driving us to explore these similarities with Grinello's work a little more, particularly in terms of the grotesque motifs. Whether Grinello was involved is yet to be confirmed, but something else more certain has also been discovered. On the vaulted ceiling in the Hercules Gallery, some numbers appeared as if by magic beneath the brush of one of the restorers. We have identified the numbers 1, 5, 5, and the last one we can't read. It's amazing. The date was hidden beneath another layer of paint. 1, 5, 5, a date set in stone, and proof that these frescoes were completed in the mid-16th century, 50 years before Honoré II's renovations. It may need a little more time before the mystery is fully revealed, but it would seem that Honoré I was the first prince to bring his palace into the Renaissance, well before his successor. As both a seat of power and a residence, the palace is still being transformed today. The private apartments are located in a wing looking down over the Porte de Fontvieille that was constructed by Prince Rainier III. They have been fully renovated to welcome the current prince and his family. At the rear of the palace, the former bulletproof earth-filled fortifications now house hundreds of square meters of office space. This ambitious project, the brainchild of Prince Albert II, brings the palace into the 21st century. This construction comprised buttresses to hold the wall and reinforce it. These buttresses were removed to leave space for the concrete structure within. The challenge was that we are at the back of the palace, and it was very difficult to bring a 40-meter crane here. Today, this building is home to a large number of administrative staff and was a remarkable achievement given how difficult it was to create so much space within the palace walls while respecting the timescale and the existing architecture. For more than eight centuries, the fortress of Monaco has looked down over the Mediterranean. For the Grimaldi's, it was a refuge before becoming a palace to establish a dynasty that is now one of the oldest in Europe. Today, its princes are its heirs. The guardians of the palace with an aura that radiates well beyond the borders of the Kingdom of Monaco.