The Principality of Monaco

Monaco is a soverign country, surrounded by France and the Mediterranean Sea.  It is the second smallest country in the world with only Vatican City being smaller.  It is approximately one and a half square miles in size.

The u-shaped port and the land surrounding it as far as the tree line are all that make up Monaco.

Below, my ship is on the right side.  The port is mostly filled with private ships and only has room for one cruise ship at a time.  The left side of the port is the area known as Monte Carlo (Charles Mountain), named for the prince that began develpoment of the region to strengthen Monaco.

Since 1929, the country has been the host of the Monaco Grand Prix which takes place in May each year and is part of the Formula One racing circuit.  Below, they have started the preparation for the stands.  The race takes place over three days and closes two thrids of the roads in Monaco as part of the track.  There are only 9,000 citizens of Monaco but more than 15,000 people come into the country each day from France and Italy to work and the week of the race can draw 200,000 people into the country.  Hotels are booked years in advance and docking a private ship could cost €50,000 a day.

Monaco has a history that reaches back to the Roman Republic when the port was used for trade.  A fort was built on the top of the cliffs of what they call the Rock which now houses the Prince's Palace.  The fort was "invaded" by the Grimaldi family in 1297 when Francois Grimaldi (in the statue below) entered the fortress with several of his men dressed as monks with their armor hidden beneath their robes.  With little destruction they gained control of the fortress and Monaco and are now the longest reigning dynasty in Europe.

The medieval fortress was converted into a palace in the 16th century.  The Grimaldi family ruled as Lords while under the protection of Genoa in the 12th century and the Spanish in the 16th century.  Lord Honore II signed a treaty with France in 1641 to pay reduced taxes for their protection in exchange for certification of nobilty and he became the first Prince of Monaco.

In order to gain religious independence from the diocese of Nice, they built the cathedral in 1884.  It is the resting place of the princes of Monaco.

Through most of its history, Monaco was a small and not very prosperous principality with an economic focus on the export of lemons.  In 1865, Prince Charles III opened the Monte Carlo Casino (below) to draw in tourism from the European aristocrats.  At the same time, the country stopped taxing its people and reduced taxes to banking and trade.  Even that amount is less than most European countries, so many businesses moved into Monaco.  The income from tourism, the casino, and the business taxes has made Monaco a wealthy country that provides free public services to its citizens including schools and health care.