Sights in Monaco — 2 of Our Favourites

The plants acclimatized in this garden come from various far-away dry zones (hence the term ‘exotic’): the South-West of the United-States; Mexico; Central and South America for cacti and agaves; South Africa; Eastern Arabia and the Arabian Peninsulafor the other succulents. In spite of their extravagant shapes, they are plants in their own right, regularly producing flowers in order to reproduce.

At the base of the Exotic Garden's cliff, an underground cavity made from calcareous rock has been hollowed out by water rich in carbon dioxide and is full of caverns complete with amazing concretions: stalactites, stalagmites, curtains, columns, spaghetti-like helictites, and more. The gardens also hold an anthropology museum of prehistory.

The Rock of Monaco served as a shelter for the area's early humans from the end of the Paleolithic period, approximately 400,000 BC, evidence of which has been found in a cave in St. Judist's Gardens. The area's first permanent settlers were the mountain-dwelling Ligures, who emigrated from their native city of Genoa, Italy.

During the 6th century BC, Greeks founded the colony of Monoikos. Its name comes from Hercules, who was said to have constructed the ancient path that passed through the region from Spain to Italy together with Monaco's port and a coastal road. The road was, thus, dotted with altars to Hercules, and a temple dedicated to him was established on the Rock of Monaco.

The Rock of Monaco was the first conquest of the Grimaldi dynasty, the rulers of the country for more than 700 years, founded when the Guelf Francesco Grimaldi disguised himself as a Franciscan monk in order to gain entry to the city and open the gates for his soldiers in 1297.

Nowadays, the rock is home to Monaco's Old Town, with medieval narrow streets and the country's most important monuments: the Palais Princier, Saint Nicholas Cathedral and the Oceanographic Museum.