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page3Historic Gas Times%u2022 Issue 108 %u2022 September 2021 %u2022Not the place you may expect to find a gasworks, but Monaco, like every other upwardly mobile city of it%u2019s time, had a gasworks, which supplied the principality with gas for lighting and its other needs. The gasworks dates back to 1863 when the Soci%u00e9t%u00e9 des Bains de Mer (SBM) won a gaming concession that included the construction of a gas plant. The gasworks were built at the foot of Fort Antoine on a constructed embankment which led to the remodelling of the %u201cBay of Hercules%u201d. From 1865 the road from the Palace to the Casino was illuminated by gas lamps. The SBM introduced electricity in 1888 and in 1890 the Soci%u00e9t%u00e9 Mon%u00e9gasque d%u00b4Electricit%u00e9 (SME) was formed. During the First World War SME struggled and the company was taken over by the NICE based company %u00c9nergie %u00c9lectrique du Littoral M%u00e9diterran%u00e9en. In 1936 The Soci%u00e9t%u00e9 Mon%u00e9gasque du Gaz (SMG) was created, which obtained a 30 year concession for the Gas supply.This photograph was taken in 1960, eight years after the gasworks closed in 1952, they were closed due to the smoke and unpleasant odours they produced. The gasholders were retained for some time afterwards with gas being supplied to the Principality via a pipeline from a gasworks in Nice, following an agreement between Monegasque State, Gas de France (GDF) and SMG.The gas was supplied by GDF, the nationalised French gas company, which was formed in 1949. It absorbed much of the French Gas industry with the exception of those organisations whose main activity was not gas production, transmission, or distribution including the producers of natural gas and small companies (< 6m3) and some local authorities. Serving an independent nation, the gas company in Monaco was not included in Gas de France. Gas is still supplied today in Monaco by La Soci%u00e9t%u00e9 Mon%u00e9gasque de l'Electricit%u00e9 et du Gaz, formed in 1976 when Soci%u00e9t%u00e9 Mon%u00e9gasque d%u00b4Electricit%u00e9 and Soci%u00e9t%u00e9 Mon%u00e9gasque du Gaz merged. Whilst the gasworks was lost, the name was retained within the Grand Prix, originally, the start/finish straight was alongside the harbour and the first corner was the old Gasworks hairpin, which had seen a lot of memorable action, including a large pile-up on the 1963 Grand Prix, when Willy Mairesse, skidded on the first corner. When the circuit was changed the start was brought inland, the first corner now became Sainte Devote, with the Gasworks Hairpin replaced by the current final corners, La Rascasse and Anthony Noghes (named after the organiser of the first Monaco Grand Prix). Russell ThomasHistorical references taken from the SMEG website:https://www.smeg.mc/en/who-are-we/notre-histoireMONACO GASWORKSLooking down over two column guided gasholders which were located adjacent the Gasworks Hairpin on the Monaco Grand Prix circuit.A Photograph of the Monaco gasworks and Hercules Bay Monaco.