San Marino, the 5th smallest country in the world, is located within the geography of northeast Italy, bordering the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche.

San Marino is just 10km away from the popular Italian tourist destination of Rimini. San Marino is not a member of the European Union.

It is officially known as a micro-state and is said to be the oldest republic in the world.

So why is it a country of its own if it is so small (with an area of only 61 km squared) and is surrounded by Italy?

The simple reason is that it wanted to be left alone to live in peace, away from wars and away from the conflicts and politics of other countries, hence it is known as Most Serene Republic of San Marino.

When the Italian states were going through the process of unification in the 19th century, Italy and San Marino signed a Convention of Friendship in 1862.

This remained peaceful until WW1 when Italy suspected San Marino of hiding Austria-Hungarian spies, resulting in Italy cutting off San Marino’s telephone lines.

Their flag is one of the nicest I’ve seen, with white, sky blue and their towers, with the motto in Latin as ‘Libertas’- freedom.

Continue reading “One Day in San Marino” →