San Marino

Overview

The country's capital (pop. 4 600) also named San Marino sits on the western slope of the tri-peaked Mt. Titano. Cars are prohibited in the medieval town center but even if they weren�t you�d want to explore the city by foot wandering along winding narrow streets lined with red-roofed stone houses medieval ramparts and somber fortresses.

Sights include the Gothic Palazzo Publico and colorful fortress guards at Piazza della Liberta; the 14th-century church of San Francesco (which has paintings by Raphael Guercino and Bellini); and the Palazzo dei Valloni (museum art gallery and San Marino�s national library). The Neoclassical Basilica di San Marino preserves the remains of the town�s stonecutter saint. A path runs from the basilica to the fortresses on Mt. Titano which include the 13th-century Montale (the smallest); the 10th-century Rocca Guaita (a prison until the 1960s); and the 13th-century Cesta (on the highest of the three peaks) which houses a museum of arms dating from the Middle Ages. The path offers a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside and Adriatic Sea too. Excursions can be made to the villages of Serraville (castle) and Valdragone (convent and church).

History

San Marino is comprised of native Sammarinese and Italian citizens. Crop farming sheep farming and the working of stone from the quarries formed the early backbone of San Marino's economy. San Marino has no mineral resources and today most of the land is cultivated or covered by woods.

According to tradition San Marino was founded in AD 301 when a Christian stonemason named Marinus the Dalmation fled the island of Arbe to escape the anti-Christian Roman Emperor Diocletian. Marinus hid on the peak of Mount Titano and founded a small community of people following their Christian beliefs. It is certain that the area had been inhabited since prehistoric times although evidence of existence on Mount Titano dates back only to the Middle Ages. In memory of the stone cutter the land was renamed "Land of San Marino then called the Community of San Marino and was finally changed to its present-day name, Republic of San Marino."

The original government structure was composed of a self-governed assembly known as the Arengo which consisted of the heads of each family. In 1243 the positions of Captains Regent (Capitani Reggenti) were established to be the joint heads of state.

The land area of San Marino consisted only of Mount Titano until 1463 when the republic entered into an alliance against Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta Lord of Rimini who was later defeated. As a result Pope Pius II Piccolomini gave San Marino the towns of Fiorentino Montegiardino and Serravalle. Later that year the town of Faetano joined the...more