500th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIRTH OF HONORE I  

When Lucien Grimaldi died in 1523, his son Honoré was just nine months old. His uncle, Augustin Grimaldi, Bishop of Grasse, was named regent. But he also died in 1532. Honoré I, aged nine, reigned under the guardianship of Etienne Grimaldi, known as “le Gubernant”. He continued the work undertaken by Augustin to fortify the Rock, as can be seen in the gate at the top of the Rampe Major, which bears the initials HG and the Christogram IHS. Ten years after Honoré I gate was completed, and with Nice under siege from both King François I and the Turks, a new campaign of fortification works was launched. The prow of the Serravalle Bastion was completed in 1545, and Tous-les-Saints Tower in 1552.

• Design and line-engraving: Louis BOURSIER
• Printing process: 6 colours steel-engraving 
• Size of the stamp: 40 x 31,77 mm horizontal
• Quantity of issue: 40 000 stamps
• Sheet of 10 stamps with illuminations