Photo : Olivier Cleynen / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Château-musée Grimaldi de Cagnes-sur-Mer
Built around 1300 by Rainier Grimaldi, Lord of Cagnes and Admiral of France, this fortified castle withstood sieges and assaults before being transformed around 1620 by Jean-Henri Grimaldi into a lord's residence combining the charm and richness of a palace. Bought by the town in 1937, it became a municipal museum in 1946 and a Historic Monument in 1948. Today it is a wonderful setting housing the ethnographic Olive Museum, the Solidor donation (40 portraits of Suzy Solidor painted by famous artists such as Cocteau, Dufy, Foujita, Lempicka, Laurencin, Picabia and Van Dongen) and exceptional Baroque painted ceilings. The Château-Musée Grimaldi also hosts temporary exhibitions of contemporary art in a harmonious setting of bright, typically Italian colours, adorned with marble, sculptures and trompe-l'œil.
