Prince's Palace of Monaco Prince's Palace of Monaco The Prince's Palace of Monaco is the official residence of the Sovereign Prince of Monaco. Built in 1191 as a Genoese fortress, during its long and often dramatic history it has been bombarded and besieged by many foreign powers. Since the end of the 13th century, it has been the stronghold and home of the Grimaldi family who first captured it in 1297. The Grimaldi ruled the area first as feudal lords, and from the 17th century as sovereign princes, but their power was often derived from fragile agreements with their larger and stronger neighbours. Thus
Bagrationi dynasty Bagrationi dynasty The Bagrationi dynasty (, "bagrat’ioni" ) is a royal family that reigned in Georgia from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century, being among the oldest extant Christian ruling dynasties in the world. In modern usage, this royal line is often referred to as the Georgian Bagratids (a Hellenized form of their dynastic name), also known in English as the Bagrations. The common origin with the Armenian Bagratuni dynasty has been accepted by several scholars (However, other sources claim that dynasty to have had Georgian roots). Early Georgian Bagratids through dynastic marriage gained the Principality of Iberia