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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Pretti Hotel, also known as Hotel Pretti de Saint-Ambroise or Hotel Galleani de Saint-Ambroise, is a private hotel located at 45 rue Longue and 29-31 quai Bonaparte, opposite the ramp Saint-Michel, in Menton. Built in the middle of the seventeenth century, it illustrates the genoese Baroque style, as evidenced by the Latin inscription dated 1649 on its facade: MISERICORDIA EIUS A PROGENIE IN PROGENIES TIMENTIBUS EUM, followed by ANNO DOMINI MDCIL. The building, composed of three floors, was profoundly transformed after the earthquake of 1887, losing its original baroque decor to a "pumpian" style.

The Pretti family, anobligated by Prince Antoine I Grimaldi in 1533, received the fief of Saint-Ambroise in Carnolès. A first building was erected in 1533 on Longue Street, before the current hotel was renovated a century later. A Turkish spear, a trophy of the battle of Lepante (1571) reported by Barthélemy Pretti, once adorned the vestibule. Two Monegasque galeries, the Patrona and the Capitana, commanded by Menton, had participated under the orders of the Grimaldi.

In 1821 Horace Pretti de Saint-Ambroise (1751-1839), governor of Menton since 1815, faced a liberal insurrection inspired by the Italian Carbonari. The movement demands a constitution modelled on that of the Spanish Cortes and Menton's attachment to Italy. The hotel, classified as a historic monument in 1989, now retains its facades, roofs, vestibule, staircase and a first floor apartment with their original or restored decor.

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