Fishing vessels haven't always been such a unique sight in Monaco, a principality that has been ruled by the Grimaldi family of Genoese origin since 1297. During the Middle Ages, the threat of invasion from across the Mediterranean kept people away from the sea. By the end of the 18th Century, the threat all but diminished, the coastal waters opened up as a source of income for local fishermen. They would sell their catch along the dock or at the fish market in Place d'Armes, a square at the foot of Le Rocher (Monaco's original settlement and site of the Palais Princier de Monaco) that still exists as a marketplace today.
