Mattoni Street

Before the construction of the ramps, in the middle of the 18th century, Mattoni Street provided direct access to the church of Saint-Michel from the Princely Palace of Honoré II. Its name is due to its solid brick paving (mattoni in Italian). This artery, where the common house (Town Hall) was located under the Ancien Régime, bears the name of rue des Patriotes from 1793 to 1801. Near this street a small square was built on the site of the old banana ovens. The traces, still visible on the facades testify to one of the few fires that the city has experienced, the way of construction of the Menton habitat being mostly mineral and the beams still coated. The spread of flames had been encouraged by the abundant supply of wood necessary for the operation of the furnaces.
At the beginning of the 18th century, Mattoni Street was paved with bricks. Local tradition tells that Prince Anthony I, affectionately called by the Mentonnais barba Antoni (uncle Antoine), is suffering from gout.
The calade pavement provoked the moans of the illustrious host during the passage of the sedan chair that led him from the palace to the church of Saint-Michel. He decides to have works of improvement carried out in order to soften this painful pilgrimage.