Category: San Marino

San Marino is situated on the Italian peninsula. The capital of San Marino is the City of San Marino. San Marino is an Italian city-state surrounded by Italy. San Marino is claimed as the oldest republic of the world. Historical evidences show that the country was founded during 301 AD by a Christian stonemason Marinus. Marinus is now recognized as Saint Marinus. The independence of San Marino was recognized by the pope in the year 1631. The independence of the country was threatened by the army of Napoleon in the year 1797. But the Regent of San Marino, Antonio Onofri became successful to maintain a friendship with Napoleon, and protected the independence of the country.

San Marino is a democratic republic with parliamentary system of government. Heads of the state are Captains Regent, and two of the Captains Regent has been elected every 6 months. Government has the control of executive power. Grand and General Council, and the government is taking care of the legislative power. The judicial system of San Marino is independent. San Marino has a wealthiest economy that depends mainly on tourism, industry, services and finance. The country has a stable economy with low unemployment rates, devoid of any national debt and surplus budget.

The population of the country is 30,000 with around 1,000 foreigners. Among the foreigners, majority of the people are Italians. Sammarinese enjoy high life expectancy rate. San Marino people or Sammarinese and Italians are the major ethnic groups of San Marino. Italian is the official language of San Marino. Another spoken language of the country is Emiliano-Romagnolo. About 99% of the people are Roman Catholics. Very few Jews are present in the country at present. During 15th – 17th centuries numerous Jewish people were present in the country. During that period, they should wear special kind of badges and lived within the restrictions, but at the same time they were protected by the San Marino government.

San Marino has several interesting tourist places with a series of fortresses and castles of medieval period. The three fortresses built in the medieval period also known as ‘three feathers’ is the most popular attraction of San Marino. These three fortresses are situated on Mount Titano, and they were built for the protection of the country from the invaders. La Rocca is the most impressive one among the three towers. Basilica del Santo is a popular tourist spot that was built in 19th century with Corinthian columns of neo-classical style. Palazzo Publico is a castle-like building and this building at present houses the parliament of San Marino. Palazzo Publico was built in Gothic-Tuscan style.

Church of San Francesco is an ancient building of San Marino which had undergone several alterations. The church was actually built in the year 1361 and the major characteristic of the church is the wooden crucifix of 300 AD placed on the altar. State Museum of San Marino is another major attraction with various artistic and historical collections. Museo di Auto d’Epoca displays the racing vehicles of late 18th century to 1970s. Other popular destinations of San Marino are San Leo, Borgo Maggiore, Chiesanuova, Acqauviva, Serravalle, Domagnano and Monteqiardine.