It is not merely a journey through the places that bear witness to the Grimaldi family’s presence and legacy over the centuries. Prince Albert II has committed himself to reaffirming, one by one, the chapters of history written by his family in Italy, France, and Spain. The Monegasque sovereign’s most recent trip dedicated to the Grimaldi Historical Sites took him to the Piedmont region.
The ties between the Grimaldi family of Monaco and Italy date back to the Middle Ages, between the 11th and 12th centuries. On October 9, Prince Albert II visited three of the eight Piedmontese municipalities that are part of the network of Grimaldi of Monaco Historic Sites: Niella Belbo, Cerretto Langhe, and Novello, in the province of Cuneo. During his visit, in addition to meeting with local political representatives, citizens, and business leaders, the Prince inaugurated the new Càbalun Museum in Niella Belbo, home to “pallapugno,” a sport emblematic of Piedmont; in Cerretto Langhe, he explored the ancient residence of the Del Carretto family, his distant ancestors who intermarried with the Grimaldi lords of Monaco in the 14th and 15th centuries; in Novello, he visited the Church of St. Michael the Archangel before walking through the town, accompanied by local flag-wavers, and reaching the castle, where a public ceremony concluded the afternoon. Prince Alberto also announced to the authorities of the three municipalities that one of the upcoming projects of the Federation of Grimaldi Historic Sites—which coordinates the efforts of the two national associations, the French and the Italian—will be to develop a geolocation app for smartphones, designed to pinpoint, with GPS precision, points of interest linked to this history, in order to spark and guide visitors’ curiosity.”
The historical, geographical, and cultural ties that bind Monaco and the Sovereign Prince’s Family to France and Italy led to the creation in France of the Association of Historic Sites of the Grimaldi Family of Monaco in 2015. The Italian Association was founded in 2021, spearheaded by Fulvio Gazzola, the mayor of Dolceacqua. In 2022, Prince Albert II will bring all the regional chapters together under a single organization headquartered in the Principality of Monaco: the Federation of Grimaldi Historical Sites of Monaco, which today encompasses nearly 150 municipalities across Italy, France, and Spain.
Sottimano, mayor of Niella Balbo
