What is the oldest country in the world? Depending on who you ask, you’ll get a variety of responses. Some might say it’s a country like China or Greece, where you can visit ancient cities that date all the way back to the second, third, or even fifth millennium BCE. But borders and cultures have always shifted – and will continue to shift – throughout history, and as a result, most of our present-day nations are actually quite young.
For example: today’s Russia was born out of the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991; its current constitution is only 21 years old. Modern Iran – officially the Islamic Republic of Iran – is turning just 46 next year; it wasn’t a republic until 1979, after the Iranian Revolution. And sure, Rome itself was founded in 753 BCE, but the Republic of Italy, as we know it today, is only about 60 years old. It was founded in 1946 after a nationwide referendum in what was once the Kingdom of Italy replaced the monarchy with a republic. The People's Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949; modern Greece – officially the Third Hellenic Republic – began in 1974 after the abolishment of the monarchy.
Empires rise and fall, but San Marino, a small enclave of a country in the middle of Italy, has withstood the tests of time since the year 301, thanks to its diminutive size and political savvy. Eager to learn more about it? Here’s an introduction to the titleholder of the oldest country in the world: the tiny, “most serene” republic of San Marino.
The oldest country in the world is San Marino
What is San Marino? If you’ve never heard of it, that’s no surprise. San Marino is the third smallest country in the world, with a land area of roughly 24 square miles – bigger than both the Vatican and Monaco (the world’s two smallest countries in terms of area, at under one square mile), but smaller than Liechtenstein and Washington, DC. It is a self-governing country within Central Italy, sandwiched between the Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche. The country’s western border is just a 20-minute drive away from the coastal Italian town of Rimini, off the Adriatic Sea. You can also take a day trip to San Marino from Bologna, which is just under two hours away by road.
In the middle of San Marino, the imposing Monte Titano towers over the landscape with three medieval towers that crown its three tallest peaks: the Cesta, on the mountain’s highest point; the Montale, on the smallest; and the Guaita, the oldest fortress of the three and perhaps its most famous and well-photographed. On the western slopes of Monte Titano stands the walled City of San Marino, the nation’s capital. The city’s historic centre, as well as Monte Titano itself, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008.
What is the history of San Marino?
If you know a bit of Italian, you can guess this country’s etymological origin: San Marino was named after, naturally, Saint Marinus. Originally a stonemason from the island of Rab (found in what is now modern Croatia), he and fellow Christians escaped religious persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire and settled on Monte Titano, where he built a church, out of which grew the community that would become San Marino. The nation’s official founding date is September 3, 301 CE.
Over the years, San Marino held onto sovereignty thanks to its isolation, and well-fortressed mountainous landscape. Political maneuvering also helped to maintain its relative independence: In the Middle Ages, when the Malatesta family, rulers of Rimini, encroached upon the territory of San Marino, its people were protected by the rival Montefeltro family of nearby Urbino. In the 18th century, Napoleon acknowledged San Marino’s independence during his campaign into the Italian peninsula and, in fact, offered to expand its territory. And in the 19th century, San Marino offered asylum to revolutionaries part of and sympathetic to the Italian unification movement, among them Giuseppe Garibaldi; soon after, the new nation of Italy confirmed San Marino’s independence through a friendship treaty signed in 1862.
San Marino shares similarities with a country like Switzerland in its comparatively small size, mountainous isolation, and habitual political neutrality. Nearly two thousand years of relative stability has led the country to also be called the Most Serene Republic of San Marino. Here’s how to visit; use the menu below to jump to the tips you’re looking for.
- How to reach and navigate San Marino
- What to speak in San Marino
- What to see in San Marino
- What to eat in San Marino
- Where to stay in San Marino
At first glance, San Marino might resemble any other Italian commune on the peninsula: Its main agricultural products are wine and cheese; its national language is Italian; its currency is the euro; visitors can freely cross the Italian-Sammarinese borders without paperwork. That said, its unique history and culture can still be found and experienced when you look more closely.
Though San Marino is part of neither the European Union nor the Eurozone, it uses the euro as its currency. Coins with San Marino’s designs on the national side are highly sought after by collectors; you can find them exchanged locally, especially at souvenir shops. Another thing you can collect when you visit the country is passport stamps. Since landlocked San Marino doesn’t have an airport or a train station (the closest ones are in Rimini), the only ways into the country are land routes from Italy via car or bus. And because Italy has open borders with San Marino, Sammarinese passport stamps have no official use. However, they’re a fun novelty and available for purchase at local tourist offices.
What to speak in San Marino
Italy’s influence is apparent in the language of San Marino, where the official language is Italian. But among the 47,000 citizens of San Marino today, roughly 83 per cent speak Sammarinese, a variety of the Romagnol language historically spoken in the region of Emilia-Romagna. It’s spoken mostly among the local elderly and classified as endangered; barring active conservation and education, Sammarinese may go extinct after 2040. If you decide to visit San Marino, bring along your best Italian, and you will go far: Buongiorno for “good morning,” per favore for “please,” and grazie (“gra-tsyeh”) for “thank you.” If you’re keen, an Italian–Sammarinese dictionary was recently published. Pick one up, try a phrase or two, and make a Sammarinese Nonno or nonna smile.
What to see in San Marino
Sightseeing in San Marino can be done in one long day (but of course there’s also merit to staying overnight, if you can). The country’s tourism revolves around the City of San Marino, where you can find most of the restaurants, cafés, hotels, and shops catering to tourists. For an expansive view of the country and the Adriatic Sea, take the cable car that climbs Monte Titano and connects the Sammarinese commune of Borgo Maggiore to the city’s historical centre. There, check out the Palazzo Pubblico in the Piazza della Liberta – literally the ‘public palace’ in the ‘place of liberty,’ fittingly named sites in this Most Serene Republic. The views from the piazza are truly awe-inspiring: green hills roll into the horizon and as flags of San Marino fly in the breeze, their two bands of white and light blue representing peace and liberty. The Palazzo too is beautiful, but what's especially cool is watching the ceremonial changing of the guard, the Guardie di Rocca, who wear distinctive green and red uniforms as they patrol the nation’s borders.
You can easily visit all three of San Marino’s towers from the city centre, which are connected by a pedestrian path with panoramic views of the country. The interiors of only Guaida and Cesta are open to the public, but you can still take photographs of Montale's exterior. As for museums, San Marino is in no short supply, befitting a country that has lived for nearly two thousand years: check out the Galleria Nazionale San Marino (exhibiting contemporary art from the 1950s onward), the Museum of Ancient Arms (weapons and armour through the ages), and the Stamp and Coin Museum (self-explanatory).
What to eat in San Marino
San Marino’s food scene might initially seem familiar because of its deep ties to Italy. In addition to its small wine and cheese industries, San Marino is well-represented on the Italian plate – quite literally. Two of its signature desserts, the Torta Tre Monti and the Torta Titano, are hazelnut, chocolate, and cream cakes inspired by their namesakes, the three towers of San Marino and Monte Titano, respectively. That said, much of San Marino’s cooking is strongly influenced by the cuisine of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna; the Sammarinese piada, a filled flatbread dish, greatly resembles the Italian piadina. (On menus in San Marino, you’ll alternately see piada and piadina – or the plural piade and piadine.)
As for where to eat, many of the best restaurants in San Marino offer not only the local cuisine, but sweeping views of the surrounding landscape too. Ristorante Spingarda overlooks the western side of San Marino, where the land just rolls endlessly into the horizon. The restaurant prides itself on a zero-kilometer approach to its cuisine, using only products like wheat, milk, and wine from San Marino or the lands that border it. For a good time, Guaita will keep you entertained well into the night; their extensive piadine menu is the perfect pairing with its music and DJs. But if you’re in and out of San Marino, the piadine at takeout joint Strapizzati comes hot, fresh, and fast. And on your way back to Rimini, be sure to stop by Antica Enoteca Giulianelli in Dogana, right on the border with Italy, where you can pick up wine and other grocer goods, including a Torta Tre Monti to take home.
Where to stay in San Marino
Most tourists just hop in and out when seeing San Marino, making the days in town busy and lively. But if you book a hotel for even just a night, you can really maximise your sightseeing when you don’t have to rush elsewhere: Go hard with the hikes to the towers of Monte Titano, scaling the hilly city, and have as much Sammarinese food as you can get – then crash right where you are at the end of the evening. The City of San Marino has many options, like the Hotel Titano, right behind Piazza della Libertà. There’s also the Grand Hotel San Marino down the road, where it has a restaurant L’Arengo, open for lunch and dinner, with fantastic offerings of Sammarinese wines.
On top of the comfort a hotel stay offers, walking through San Marino on a quiet night is a real treat. When the sun has set and all is quiet, when most of the visitors have returned to Rimini, Bologna, or even Florence, stroll through those stone streets and take in that delightful stillness in this old city, this ancient and proud nation. It’s as close as you might get to time travelling in the oldest country in the world.
This article was first published on Condé Nast Traveler.