Monaco's churches, beyond the cathedral

Most people step into Monaco Cathedral to see Grace Kelly’s tomb and that’s the end of their church tour. It’s a shame, because this tiny country holds a surprisingly varied set of churches, from Baroque to modern, and one or two with interiors you’d never guess from the street. I’ve grouped them the way I’d walk them, and said what makes each one worth the detour.

A Catholic state with room for other faiths

Article 9 of Monaco’s Constitution makes Catholicism the state religion, and the Principality has been an archdiocese since 1981. That doesn’t rule out freedom of worship, and in a country with residents from so many nations there’s an Anglican church, a Protestant church, Orthodox communities and a synagogue. For visitors it means something practical, these are working churches with Masses and services, so go in outside service times and quietly.

The cathedral and Sainte Dévote, the Monegasque soul

The Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate, on the Rock, went up in 1875 in Romanesque-Byzantine style. It’s the burial place of Monaco’s princes, including Rainier III and Princess Grace, and holds a monumental organ, a high altar in Carrara marble and an altarpiece by Louis Bréa dated 1500. What to see inside, with opening hours, is in Monaco Cathedral.

Sainte Dévote is the other one, and for Monegasques perhaps the best loved. It was built in the 19th century on the site of a chapel, in the Gaumates valley, and is dedicated to the patron saint. Every 26 January a boat is burnt on its forecourt in one of the country’s oldest traditions. The feast and the church are covered in Sainte Dévote church.

The surprises, in Monte-Carlo and Les Moneghetti

Saint-Charles, in the heart of Monte-Carlo, opened in 1883, as Charles III was building up the district. It’s Renaissance in style, designed by Charles Lenormand, the cathedral’s architect, with a 30-metre bell tower, two statues at the entrance, of Saint Charles Borromeo and Saint Lawrence, and 19 stained-glass windows in the nave. A church like that among the boutiques is hard to picture, which is why I like it.

The real surprise is in Les Moneghetti. The Sacred Heart, built between 1926 and 1929, has a stern façade that doesn’t invite you in, and inside hides a lavish interior, restored in 2013, with a vault painted by the Italian Franzoni in 1930 and a romantic-symphonic organ installed in 2016. In the same district, the modern church of Saint-Martin has contemporary stained glass. The neighbourhood is in Les Moneghetti.

The Baroque Rock and modern Fontvieille

In Monaco-Ville, a few steps from the palace, the Chapel of Mercy is the country’s Baroque showpiece, with its decorated interior. It’s worth the stop if you’re already in the old town, as I explain in the Chapel of Mercy.

At the other end of the story is Saint-Nicolas in Fontvieille, opened by Rainier III in 1989. It’s one of the newest, with modern Ligurian lines and a dome of glazed tiles on the bell tower. What I love is one detail. In the choir it keeps the baptismal font of Monaco’s old cathedral, also dedicated to Saint Nicholas and pulled down in 1873. It’s the thread linking the reclaimed district to the Rock of old.

Anglicans, Protestants, Orthodox and Jewish

St Paul’s Anglican Church in Monte-Carlo was built in 1925 with simple, sober lines, and holds services in English and concerts. For a British visitor who’d like to attend a Sunday service abroad, it’s the obvious choice. The Orthodox parish of Saint Helen meets in a space in the same church. The Reformed Protestant church stands in La Condamine, built in 1959 at the initiative of a Swiss industrialist, Adam Oser, with a Tamburini organ, and a Russian Orthodox parish worships there too.

And in Monte-Carlo stands the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue, opened in 2017, a circular building of Jerusalem stone designed to echo its namesake in Manhattan. Service times change through the year, so I’d check the diocese’s website, or St Paul’s own, before going, especially if you’d like to attend a service in the cathedral. That mix of communities is closely tied to who lives in the country, which I explore in who the Monegasques are.