Number 22

The foundation stone of the present casino was laid in 1858. Since then, the architecture of this building has changed according to the pictorial and musical fashions, but also the needs of every age. This article shows an overall map and pictures, sometimes unpublished, of the casino. Containing commentaries, those pictures introduce us to a universe of beauty and elegance. (full text in French)

A national march was created in the early 19th century, after a murky political period ended by the secession of Menton and Roquebrune. The march was transformed into anthem, with Prince Charles III’s support, in order to establish the international status of Monaco. Several instrumental versions exist, and the author presents two of them. (full text in French)

Madame de Sévigné was a Parisian in the soul, and came to Provence to visit her daughter, François de Grignan’s wife, who was then Governor of Provence. This epistolary relationship was the only way for those women to communicate. Even if Madame de Sévigné had never been in Monaco, she imagined the Principality when her daughter visited the princess of Monaco in 1672. (full text in French)

In 1912, the name of the opera of Monte-Carlo was associated to Raoul Gunsbourg, director of this prestigious institution since 1892. His artistic choices, safe and original, permitted to settle the operas of Boito, Verdi, Rossini and Puccini which built the reputation of this establishment. (full text in French)

Bought in 1346 by the lords of Monaco, the Cap Martin property was the princes’ hunting place in the next centuries. Antoine I could not move a lot because he had gout but he enjoyed hunting in this place, on a litter, and stayed in his Menton “casin”. (full text in French)

The treaty of Péronne was fundamental for the Monaco’s history. Its signature put an end to the Spanish protectorate, which was settled in 1524, and it represented the beginning of the French protectorate… for 152 years… (full text in French)

Françoise-Thérèse de Choiseul-Stainville, Joseph Grimaldi’s wife and Prince Honoré III’s daughter-in-law, was the only princess of Monaco who died guillotined. This article refers to this sensitive women who was born in a gold cocoon and who died on the last revolutionary cart, 28 years later. (full text in French)