Page "French Riviera" Paragraph 36

In the mid-19th century British and French entrepreneurs began to see the potential of promoting tourism along the Côte d ' Azur.

At the time, gambling was illegal in France and Italy.

In 1856, the Prince of Monaco, Charles III, began constructing a casino in Monaco, which was called a health spa to avoid criticism by the church.

The casino was a failure, but in 1863 the Prince signed an agreement with François Blanc, a French businessman already operating a successful casino at Baden-Baden ( southwestern Germany ), to build a resort and new casino.

Blanc arranged for steamships and carriages to take visitors from Nice to Monaco, and built hotels, gardens and a casino in a place called Spélugues.

At the suggestion of his mother, Princess Caroline, Charles III renamed the place Monte Carlo after himself.

When the railway reached Monte Carlo in 1870, many thousands of visitors began to arrive and the population of the principality of Monaco doubled.