San Marino on the Italian peninsula claims to be the oldest constitutional republic in the world as the continuation of the monastic community founded on 3 September 301 by stonecutter Marinus of Arba. It is governed by the Leges Statutae Republicae Sancti Marini, a series of six books written in Latin in the late 16th century, that dictate the country’s political system. The country is considered to have the earliest written constitution still in effect.
Like Andorra, San Marino has no extant train service, so we roll in by bus. It’s quickly apparent that San Marino’s status as a global anachronism doesn’t mean that its citizens have just discovered fire and simple tools. Rather, they partake in that staple of contemporary small-country life, duty-free commerce. Just across the border, we see bank branches, perfume shops, and an electronics superstore advertising its TAX-FREE status in huge block letters. It’s as if our old friend Andorra, unsatisfied with the volume of cologne we purchased a few days prior, has teleported over from the Pyrenees to put on the hard sell once again.
Picture Credit : Google