The maritime Voyages of Discovery turned Lisbon into one of the world’s great ports and the centre of an empire that stretched from Brazil in the West to India in the East. On the banks of the river, great monuments testify to that history.

Various populations from prehistoric times and antiquity have sought refuge on Monaco’s Rocher and in its port. Sailors have heralded from as far away as the Orient. In the sixth century B.C. a Ligurian tribe inhabited the area leaving behind their name to what would become Monaco.