San Marino, Republic of San Marino

San Marino is the capital of the Republic of San Marino, which some claim is the world's oldest continuously existing independent state. With a total area of barely 60 square kilometers (23 square miles), it is certainly among the smallest; in Europe, only the principality of Monaco and Vatican City occupy less land area. Of the patchwork of multiple rival states into which the Italian peninsula remained carved until their 1861 unification into the modern nation of Italy, San Marino is one of only two entities (the other is the Vatican City) that successfully resisted political absorption. Its culture nonetheless is largely indistinguishable from that of the surrounding Italian territory.

Landscape

The Republic of San Marino is located in the landlocked Marecchia River basin along north-central Italy's Apennine mountain range. Its rugged terrain is dominated by Mount Titano, whose triple limestone peaks offer a sweeping view of the Adriatic Sea, into which the Marecchia empties some 19 kilometers (12 miles) to the east.

At a height of 739 meters (2,425 feet), Mount Titano afforded a natural strategic advantage to the republic's early inhabitants, who constructed their capital high on its western slopes and summit. Defensive walls ring the Old Town; beyond their perimeter, the mountain makes a sheer plunge of some 300 meters (984 feet).

Above the city, massive fortifications perch on each of Mount Titano's three peaks. A castle dominates one peak while towers loom on the other two. Although in the contemporary era, the summit towers are illuminated at night primarily for the enjoyment of tourists and the safety of pilots, during medieval times they offered the capital additional protection from any enemies who might approach from the foothills below.

Its commanding geography (together with a lack of natural resources for neighbors to covet) has played a key role in San Marino's maintenance of its sovereign autonomy over the centuries. It has also historically reinforced the capital's dominant role among the nine administrative municipalities (called castelli, or "castles") into which the republic is divided. All government offices and the bulk of the tourist industry are concentrated within the walls of the Old Town.

San Marino features a climate typical of northeastern Italy. During the mild winters, temperatures usually remain above 7 degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit), while summer temperatures rarely exceed 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). Annual rainfall averages between 56 and 80 centimeters (22 to 32 inches).

People

The majority of the inhabitants of San Marino are of Italian descent. Although nearly everyone speaks the official language, Italian, many residents also speak Emiliano-Romagnolo, the local Italian dialect of the surrounding region of Emilia-Romagna. Most of the people in San Marino are Roman Catholic.

The population of the capital is divided between native Sanmarinesi, as citizens of the Republic are called, and Italian citizens. While, according to the Office of Economic Planning, Data Processing and Statistics the number of people in permanent residence in the municipality of San Marino was only approximately 4,054 by the end of December 2018 (out of some 34,892 in the country as a whole as of 2022), city streets nonetheless are often remarkably crowded; millions of tourists visit San Marino every year. In 2019, the last year for which tourist data was available, more than 1.9 million people visited the Republic of San Marino.

Economy

Prior to World War II, San Marino was at the center of a struggling, largely agrarian economy focused on farming, the raising of sheep and cattle, and the cutting of stone from now mostly exhausted quarries.

Agriculture, especially the cultivation of grapes, olives, and grain, remains an important component of San Marino's economy, as does the production of cheese and wine. San Marino's economy also features a light industrial sector that turns out quarried stone, cement, clothing, leather goods, textiles, ceramics, furniture, tiles, and gold and silver souvenirs.

For the past several decades, however, tourism has been the mainstay of the capital's economy, generating more than half of the republic's gross domestic product (GDP). According to the Office of Economic Planning, Data Processing and Statistics, the republic hosted over 1.8 million tourists in 2018 alone. Another key source of revenue comes from the sale of specialty stamps and commemorative coins, which are highly sought after by collectors.

The banking industry has also played a significant role in San Marino, which has long served as a tax haven for wealthy investors. Although the sale of duty-free consumer goods continues to generate revenues, the advent of the European Union (EU)—which has ushered in lower corporate tax rates in Italy and other EU nations—has significantly decreased the tax advantages enjoyed in the past in San Marino. An additional source of income comes from the Italian government, which provides San Marino with an annual budget subsidy.

Landmarks

The three fortresses—the tenth-century Rocca Guaita (a working prison until 1970) and the Cesta and Montale, both of which date to the thirteenth century—located on Mount Titano's rugged peaks are San Marino's most popular tourist attractions. Visitors can take advantage of panoramic views of the Adriatic as well as the opportunity to scramble along cliff-edge parapets once patrolled by medieval guards.

The interior of the Cesta has been converted into a museum, which displays collections of antique weapons such as crossbows. During medieval-themed festivals held each July in the capital, costumed performers engage in crossbow competitions to demonstrate how medieval archers used these powerful weapons.

Several other museums are located in the capital. These include the Palazzo dei Valloni, which houses an art gallery as well as San Marino's national library and the Museum of the Automobile Age, which chronicles the history of cars and motorcycles from 1890 to 1970. This museum is popular both with tourists and the hordes of Formula One racing fans who descend on San Marino each April for the running of the San Marino Grand Prix (which actually takes place in nearby Imola, Italy).

There are several churches of note in San Marino. The Church of San Francesco, built in 1361, features an ancient wooden crucifix on its altar. According to legend, the crucifix, which dates to around 300 CE, was moved to San Marino at the order of Pope Clement VII, who believed that the isolated mountain capital would provide a safe haven for the precious relic.

The Church of Saint Peter, located next to the Basilica of San Marino, is famous for its underlying crypt, in which an urn containing the remains of the capital's founder is buried. Many locals regard the church, and in particular a cell said to be the sleeping quarters of the city's founder, Saint Marinus, as a site of miraculous healing powers.

History

According to tradition, San Marino was founded in 301 CE by a stonemason named Marinus. Marinus fled his native island of Rab, located off the coast of Dalmatia, to escape the persecution of the Roman emperor Diocletian. After crossing the Adriatic, Marinus stopped first in the Italian city of Rimini. He soon decided that the more inaccessible slopes of nearby Mount Titano offered a safer haven for him and his small band of fellow Christian refugees.

Marinus, who was eventually canonized a saint (San Marino in Italian) built up a community that eventually evolved into the independent state that still bears is founder's name. To repel attacks by Hungarian, Saracen, and Norman invaders, the city's inhabitants built fortifications on Mount Titano's formidable peaks. In the thirteenth century, San Marino's independence was recognized by the papacy. It was reaffirmed by Pope Urban VIII in 1631, by which time the Papal States had come to surround the tiny enclave.

During the nineteenth century, San Marino provided a safe exile for many Risorgimento fugitives, including Giuseppe Garibaldi, the hero of the Italian unification movement. Garibaldi left San Marino right before the Austrians invaded the Republic in an attempt to capture him. In 1862, San Marino entered into a treaty of cooperation and friendship with Italy, which was renewed in 1939 and again in 1971.

Despite close relations with Italy, San Marino officially declared a policy of neutrality during World War II. Its Fascist government, however, remained in sympathy with Benito Mussolini's regime, which dominated the surrounding Italian territory. Allied bombing raids on San Marino caused significant damage and some casualties on the ground. San Marino nonetheless struggled to provide shelter and food to more than 100,000 Italian and Jewish refugees during the course of the war.

In the postwar period, San Marino was governed by a coalition of Communist and socialist politicians. In the mid 1980s, a ruling coalition of Christian Democrats and Communists emerged, followed in the early 1990s by a coalition of Christian Democrats and socialists. In 1999, San Marino joined the European Monetary Union and adopted the euro as its currency, but did not become a full-fledged member of the EU. The EU continued to monitor tax policies, and although San Marino was not a member, it was placed on the EU's 2017 list of countries with whom it was conducting discussions regarding reforms of perceived deficiencies in tax policies. The country still offers businesses and banking customers lower tax rates than in other parts of Europe, but as of 2023, San Marino has begun to bow to outside pressures and is considered a “tax haven in transformation.”

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