New French Riviera town joins Grimaldi heritage network

The town of Antibes, on the French Riviera, has been added to the “Sites Historiques Grimaldi de Monaco” network.  To mark the occasion,  Prince Albert II was in Antibes on 26 October for an official celebration.

The Sovereign and Jean Léonetti, the mayor of Antibes, unveiled a plate marking the town’s entry to the “Sites Historiques Grimaldi de Monaco”, the network of Grimaldi Heritage Sites.

Following the unveiling of the plate, Prince Albert visited the Grimaldi castle, today home to Antibes’ Picasso Museum, where he looked at medieval manuscripts. The manuscripts, which Monaco helped Antibes purchase, attest to the Grimaldi’s purchase of the castle and of the old town towards the end of the 14^thcentury. The Prince then visited the rest of the museum with Jean-Louis Andral, the museum’s curator.

115 Heritage sites in France and Italy

The Grimaldi family has links to about a hundred towns throughout France and Italy.  The association “Sites Historiques Grimaldi de Monaco” was founded in 2015  to “bring together, enhance and promote these sites both on a cultural and touristic point of view”. The network currently counts 115 different sites and towns spread throughout  France – many of them in Normandy, but also in Occitany, and the region of the Alpes-Maritimes – and Italy, including in Liguria, Apulia, and Calabria.