A comparatively easy drive to the town has now been made up the east side of the rock, but the original approach was by a steep flight of steps, carefully defended with strongly fortified gates, and commanded by the battlements above (_see_ sketch, Fig. 258). The existing works at this point are evidently of the seventeenth century. The north side, which overlooks the mainland, was fortified with a large circular bastion at the western angle (Fig. 259), and a square one at the eastern angle. The former still retains some of the large corbels which carried the original parapet of the fifteenth century; but the bastions have been heightened and made suitable for artillery at a later date. On arriving at the top of the entrance to the town, a wide open staircase ascends to the front of the Ducal Palace (Fig. 258). This edifice is a picturesque assemblage of buildings of several dates, chiefly of the Renaissance period. Some of the old towers retain their forked battlements, a form common in the North of Italy. The whole place is vast and palatial, and from its lofty site and splendid background, composed of a rugged mountain called the Tête de [Illustration: FIG. 258. DUCAL PALACE, MONACO.] Chien, has a noble and impressive appearance. The courtyard of the palace is also a fine though somewhat peculiar specimen of Italian design, the fresco paintings on the walls giving it a rich and southern aspect. [Illustration: FIG. 259. DUCAL PALACE, MONACO (_N.W. Bastion._)] The town consists of three parallel streets, and contains some good bits of old work. A large new church in the early Romanesque or Provençal style of architecture has recently been erected. The old church contained specimens of capitals, and other details very similar to those of the lower arcade in the Castle of St Honorat. The gardens of the palace, which extend round the western side of the rock, where every chink and crevice is filled with fig trees, aloes, pears, and palms, form a delightful promenade; and the views from the walls towards Monte Carlo and Mentone, [Illustration: FIG. 260. ENTRANCE TO TOWN, ROQUEBRUNE.]