If you think San Marino is part of Italy, you’re very wrong. This tiny republic within Italy called San Marino is the world’s oldest sovereign state, founded as early as the 4th century. Quite surprising, it standing tall and being completely surrounded by Italy. As we drove into this state, we hardly noticed any difference except for the drop in temperature. It’s the end of November and winter has set in. The wind upped the chill as we walked up on the single street leading towards the Piazza Della Liberta. The walkway is like the backbone running along the entire ridge of the mountain. I wrapped up good for this cold weather — dipping at 0 Celsius — and threw all fashion sense out the window. Throwing my thick wrap over myself — with my back pack strapped on my back — I felt like the hunchback of Notre Dame. This republic is small but hilly, so count on those calf muscles being put to the test. Phew!
Pallazzo Pubblico
Chiesa Dei Capuccini
The problem is the sun sets before 5pm so we couldn’t linger around to enjoy the vista from the top. The cold seeps through your bones and the wind renders your face stone cold. To take photos, I needed to peel off the hand gloves every so often till I gave up. It wasn’t the best time to visit San Marino. Not even if you just intended to do tax-free shopping as most shops were closed. It would have been interesting to watch the Changing of the Guards but we missed it. We passed but didn’t enter the very lovely Chiesa Di San Quirino with its equally lovely tower on our way up. (The Church and the Convent, also called Church of Capuccini looked even lovelier on our way down, captured as the light faded with the sunset) Nonetheless, the views from the fortress walls especially as the sun sets take your breath away.
There was a fork in the road and we took the uphill climb along the same Contrada della Pleve towards the Basilica del Santo. The streets were adorned with Christmas trees and a giant wreath with red candles. So pretty viewed against the fading blue sky. At the other end of this Contrada is one of the fortress towers called Guaita. The views offer unlimited boundary. A 360 degree panorama awaits you as you climb up, passing shops and some cannons. It must be a pretty sight at night when you see the towns below all illuminated with the moon shining above the turrets. The sentry posts now comprise part of the Museum which we skipped, opting instead to simply walk around. We spotted the other turrets marking the mountain outline in the limited time we had before dark set in following a 5pm sunset. While we didn’t have much time enjoying San Marino in daylight, the visit was enough to appreciate its regal beauty. The closed duty free shops were a disappointment but that didn’t dampen our moods. The dark and the cold compel us to rush back to our hired coach for the trip back to our homebase in Bologna. Arrivederci, San Marino!
