On Friday 3 November, H.S.H. Prince Albert II took part in the twinning celebrations between the municipalities of Monaco and Dolceacqua.
In the morning, the Sovereign Prince went to the Monaco Town Hall to attend the ceremony at which the two mayors of the municipalities, Georges Marsan and Fulvio Gazzola, signed the twinning oath.
Also present were H.E. Mr Giulio Alaimo, the Italian ambassador to Monaco, members of the Monaco Town Council, elected representatives from Dolceacqua and numerous representatives of Monaco's highest authorities. The signing took place exactly five centuries after the syndics of Dolceacqua, Apricale, Isolabona and Perinaldo swore an oath of loyalty to Augustin Grimaldi, Lord of Monaco and Bishop of Grasse, in Monaco on 3 November 1523.
The guests then proceeded to the Palace of Monaco for an official reception during which H.S.H. the Prince and H.S.H. Princess Charlene were presented with the 2023 twinning charter, the original 1523 oath of allegiance and the Monegasque postage stamp issued for the occasion. The Prince and His wife also received a copy of the historical work entitled "Les Doria de Dolceacqua et les Grimaldi de Monaco - 500e anniversaire du pacte de fidélité du 3 novembre 1523".
In the afternoon, H.S.H. Prince Albert travelled to the Ligurian town to take part in a second twinning ceremony. The ceremony took place in the Place de l'Eglise in the presence of the Monegasque and Italian delegations and a large number of local people.
The day ended with an official dinner hosted by the Town Hall of Dolceacqua.
The shared history of the two communities dates back to 1491, when Françoise Grimaldi and Luc Doria de Dolceacqua married. A few years later, in 1523, their son Barthélemy Doria murdered his uncle Lucien Grimaldi in Monaco, with the intention of occupying the fortress for his cousin, the famous admiral André Doria. This tragic event sealed an unbreakable bond that still unites Monaco and Dolceacqua today.
Over the last ten years or so, relations between Monaco and Dolceaqua have grown stronger, especially as the Ligurian city has been part of the network of Grimaldi Historic Sites from the outset. A room in the Doria Castle has been dedicated to the Grimaldis and H.S.H. the Prince was made an honorary citizen of Dolceacqua in 2018. The tryptic of Saint Devote, by the painter Louis Bréa, kept in the parish church of Dolceacqua, was loaned to be exhibited in the church of Saint Devote in Monaco on the occasion of a celebration of the patron saint of the Principality.
More recently, an exhibition by the photographic artist Julien Spiewak, "Monaco-Dolceacqua 500", was held successively in the State Apartments of the Palace of Monaco and in Doria Castle.
The aim of the twinning is to strengthen this bond of solidarity by promoting exchanges in the fields of culture, heritage, art, tourism, gastronomy, sport and the environment. Dolceacqua thus becomes the third community twinned with the municipality of Monaco, after Ostend (Belgium) in 1958 and Lucciana (France, Haute-Corse) in 2009.
