The Palais Princi­er de Mona­co is home to the old­est monar­chy in the world. The Genoese noble fam­i­ly of Grimal­di estab­lished Mona­co in 1297 after they cap­tured the land from the Repub­lic of Genoa. The res­i­dence was orig­i­nal­ly built in the 13th cen­tu­ry as a Genoese fortress and lat­er was trans­formed into a lux­u­ri­ous Ital­ian Renais­sance palace. The mon­u­ment also incor­po­rates design influ­ences from the Château de Fontainebleau dur­ing the era of Louis XIV. You can see the sump­tu­ous State Apart­ments (Grands Apparte­ments), includ­ing the Her­cule Gallery adorned with 16th- and 17th-cen­­tu­ry fres­coes.