Old photographs show how Monaco turned Casino Square into an open-air showroom

Casino Square in Monaco has always been a magnet for supercars and hypercars, but it’s changed a lot through the years.

You’ve still got Café de Paris on one side and Hotel de Paris on the other.

And you’ve still got the Casino, of course.

But there’s a massive difference that only becomes obvious when you look at old photographs.

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Why the Casino is so important for Monte Carlo

Monaco’s Casino opened in 1865, and it’s the reason why Monaco is what it is.

In 1869, just four years later, revenue generated from the newly opened Monte Carlo Casino was so significant that Prince Charles III, the ruler at the time, decided to abolish personal income tax.

Over 150 years later, this is still Monaco’s main allure, and the main reason why billionaires and millionaires flock here and bring their supercars – and superyachts – with them.

This is a boon for Monaco, but also a problem, chiefly because the Principality is running out of space.

Just over a year ago, the small sovereign state in the Mediterranean inaugurated Mareterra-Le Portier, an artificial island – Monaco calls it ‘reclamation of land’ – that’s been turned into a $2 billion neighborhood.

How Monaco turned Casino Square into an open-air showroom

In 2020, at the height of the pandemic lockdown, the Principality of Monaco rebuilt the square to make it a pedestrian zone.

In the past, there was a small roundabout in the middle, and the rest was tarmac you could drive on.

You could drive to Casino Square, through it, and around it, and park your car in front of the casino or next to the Cafe de Paris.

With the new design, you’ve got a narrow stretch of road you can use to drive through the square, and you’ve got some parking spaces right in front of the hotel – and that’s it.

Everything else is a car-free pedestrian area with palm trees.

And these two images prove the change in dramatic fashion: Pictured above: Casino Square before 2020; Pictured below: Casino Square after 2020.

They also redesigned the roundabout and turned it into a nice fountain.

It looks a lot tidier, and you can still park the cars outside the casino.

Win-win.