Monaco Ville, also called Le Rocher, is the only part of Monaco to have retained small, windy medieval lanes. The old town thrusts skywards on a pistol-shaped rock, its strategic location overlooking the sea that became the stronghold of the Grimaldi dynasty. To access Le Rocher, from place aux Armes in the Condamine area, visitors can walk up the 16th-century red-brick Rampe Major, past the statue by Dutch artist Kees Verkade of the late Prince Rainier looking down on his beloved Monaco.
