According to tradition, San Marino it was founded by the stonemason Marino, who came from Dalmatia in 257 AD to escape the Christian persecutions of the Roman emperor Diocletian. Here on Monte Titano he established a community which then became a village and finally a municipality in the XNUMXth century, becoming San Marino from then on. It is considered an autonomous and independent state recognized throughout the world.
Today, San Marino is considered the oldest republic in the world. Located in central Italy, between Emilia Romagna and Marche, a few kilometers from the Rimini coast, it can easily be reached by car along the Bologna-Ancona motorway up to the Rimini-San Marino motorway; you can also reach it by train, arriving at the Rimini train station and then taking a bus that will take you to your destination. In both cases you must stop at Piazzale Nazioni Unite, where you continue on foot or by cable car which stops a few meters from the city centre.
La Republic of San Marino it is a very small state, for this reason in a whole day it is possible to capture the beauty of this place and visit all the major places of interest. Its historic center and the imposing Monte Titano were included among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2008. Its castles rich in history, museums, monuments and squares but also the shops and markets create a A very suggestive and romantic medieval atmosphere that runs through all the streets and alleys of the city, surprising the visitor on a journey back in time. We suggest a five-stage itinerary to discover the main attractions to see in San Marino.
Il Palazzo Pubblico. Seat of the San Marino parliament, the Palazzo Pubblico is located in the historic heart of San Marino, exactly in the so-called "Pianello", or Piazza della Libertà. The structure inaugurated in 1894 is built entirely of sandstone extracted from Monte Titano. Internally you can admire trophies, inscriptions, coats of arms, friezes, busts of illustrious men who have marked the history of the country, among which that of Carducci stands out. Its greatest treasures are: the Council Hall where the 1848 parliamentarians of the Republic have gathered since 60, the bronze statue of the Holy Founder and the Bell Tower, located to the left of the Palace which bears the images of Sant'Agata and San Marino . In front of the Palace there is one of the symbols of San Marino, the Statue of Liberty, in white Carrara marble.
Il Torture Museum. This museum is reputed to be one of the most macabre and disturbing in the world. It extends over three floors, connected to each other by a spiral staircase, and shows visitors different methods of torture used throughout the Middle Ages to cause physical pain and make a person suspected of crimes, witchcraft or conspiracies confess. A gruesome collection of more than 100 torture devices, some of which are decidedly chilling, such as the inquisitorial chair and the stretching bench, or decapitation instruments such as the guillotine or others of punishment such as the pillory. But you will find many others, testimony to the horrors of human cruelty.
Il Museum of curiosities. Decidedly happier is the incredible Museum of Curiosities of San Marino which preserves a collection of over one hundred extraordinary inventions, objects, news and completely unusual and very real characters that highlight ingenuity and infinite human abilities. Inside it offers a vast exhibition where you can admire many Guinness World Records oddities, including the longest hair and nails in the world, the flea trap, the fattest man in the world or the shortest woman in the world ; furthermore, in the summer months tourists can take advantage of a special means of transport, namely a 1913 Ford coach, which connects the museum to the car parks furthest from the historic centre.
Le Three Towers. The symbol of the city are the medieval Three Towers, built for defensive purposes and which are also found on the coins and on the flag of the Republic of San Marino. The first tower, called the Guaita, it is the largest and oldest of the three. Dating back to the 11th century, it is a real castle: in fact, inside it includes a small church and prisons. The second tower, the The road, it stands at the highest point of Monte Titano and internally houses the Museum of Ancient Weapons with over 700 examples of historical weapons. Finally, crossing the spectacular Path of the Witches, a very suggestive stone path, which offers spectacular views of the entire valley, you reach the “Montal”, the smallest of the three towers. It cannot be visited but inside there is a prison called "bottom of the tower", 8 meters deep.
Basilica of San Marino. The last stop of the daily tour in San Marino is its beautiful Basilica dedicated to the founding saint of the Republic and the center of the social and religious life of the San Marino people. Built in neoclassical style starting from 1826, where the old sixteenth-century parish church once stood in Piazzale Domus Plebis, one of the first Christian monuments in Italy in pre-Romanesque style. Today the basilica is made up of the classic three naves and under the main altar the relics of the saint are preserved in a small urn (his skull is apparently found inside the Sacred Shrine to the right of the altar). Also noteworthy are the statues of the Twelve Apostles and the Redeemer by the sculptor Adamo Tadolini, the four Cardinal Virtues, the seat of the Regency and the painting called "Noli me tangere" by Elisabetta Sirani, depicting the Risen Christ.
