It only takes a few kilometers to change the era.
In Monte-Carlo, Belle Époque facades coexist with the sleek lines of contemporary architecture, collection cars cross the race tracks, while the Mediterranean remains unperturbed at the foot of the Rock. In this tiny territory, everything seems to be concentrated: history, speed, the arts, fortunes, family stories, and silhouettes from all over the world.
With Monte Carlo, the Editions Assouline They are not just trying to paint a portrait of a destination. The book explores a unique geography, where reduced space has never prevented the imagination from taking on a larger scale.
The Principality was built in layers. The Princely Palace, whose origins date back to the 12th century, watches over a city in motion. Lower down, the Baroque monument of the Oceanographic Museum dialogues with the contemporary volumes of the Yacht Club. Between these two visions, the New National Museum opens the stage to the artists of our time. Here, the centuries do not follow one another; they coexist.
Monte-Carlo also has its myths. Grace Kelly played a part in its destiny. Frank Sinatra, Rudolf Noureev, Roger Moore, Ringo Starr and Björn Borg contributed to shaping the image of a city where celebrities sometimes seem to be just another character among others. Today, Charles Leclerc embodies a new generation of people who are as attached to racing as they are to this territory that has become one of the most recognizable stages in motor sports.
But Monaco is not just about its postcard images. Behind the superyachts and renowned tables, there is a culture of the rendez-vous. The Grand Prix transforms the streets into a racetrack. The Ballets de Monte-Carlo extend a choreographic tradition attentive to creation. The Casino, the Hôtel de Paris, and the Monte-Carlo Beach each tell, in their own way, a certain idea of hospitality, shaped over the decades. Illustrated with contemporary photographs and images from the archives of the princely palace, Monte Carlo Composes a visual narrative where the intimate meets the spectacular. The preface by Prince Albert II brings a personal perspective on this heritage, whose transmission remains at the heart of the Monegasque identity.
Based in Monaco since 2010, author and journalist Ségolène Cazenave Manara knows the two faces of the Principality: the one observed from the stands and the one revealed in the continuity of the days. After working for Glamour, First, Libération Then, as artistic director at France Télévisions, she wrote a book that is infused with this sense of proximity. As the pages unfold, Monte-Carlo appears as a city of contrasts, but also of permanence. A three-kilometer-long promontory where the past remains in place, where architecture invents new lines of sight, and where the Mediterranean reminds us, with every glance, that everything begins with a landscape.
Monte Carlo It is an invitation to look in a different way at a territory that is often photographed, but rarely observed in all its complexity of stories.
Featured photo: The Saurer-Lürssen outboard motor drives past the facade of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in 1912.
Assouline / Photos Jacques Enrietti © Archives Monte-Carlo S.B.M
