On my second morning aboard the MV Athena, I pushed my curtains aside at 5:45am and watched the sun rising over the water. I had settled easily into the routines of cruising and shipboard life. I’d be up early, take a quick shower, slather on sun screen and dress for warm sunny weather. By 6:30, I’d be in the lounge making a cup of green tea before the breakfast buffet opened. I’d fuel up at breakfast to ensure that I had sufficient energy for morning sightseeing.
This morning, we were docked alongside yachts and sailboats in the port of Pesaro in the Marche region. Right after breakfast, we boarded buses and set out for the Republic of San Marino – passports optional. The only reason to bring one was if you wanted an official tourist visa stamped into your passport, for a cost of five Euros.
On the hour-long drive to the country’s capital city, also called San Marino, Marco told us a bit about the Marche. It’s is one of Italy’s most prosperous regions, known for furniture making and leather goods. The area also produces olives, olive oil, and a white wine called Verdicchio. The Marche doesn't attract many American tourists but its landscape of gentle rolling hills is quite lovely.
Marco noted that since we were still in northern Italy, the roads were in excellent condition. By contrast, in southern Italy, roads are not well-maintained by the government. I’d always thought of northern Italy as wealthy and southern Italy as poor, and Marco confirmed that assessment. However, he explained that prior to the unification of Italy in 1861, the South had resources that made it much wealthier than the North. Consequently, the South felt that there would be no advantage to unification and resisted it. The North, under the military leadership of Garibaldi, pushed to unify the country and essentially conquered the South in order to achieve its goal.
Starting in 1861, the new Italian government began to transfer wealth and resources from the South to the North and embarked on a long-term program to industrialize the North. There was no similar investment in industry or infrastructure in the South. As the economy of the North flourished, the South went into a severe economic decline from which it has never recovered.
When Italy became a unified country in 1861, landlocked San Marino, surrounded by the regions of Emilia-Romagna and the Marche, managed to remain independent. It has been a republic since the year 301CE, making it the world’s longest surviving republic. It’s also one of the world’s smallest countries, with an area of only 24 square miles. The population is about 34,000, with citizenship being passed down matrilineally. The people, called San Marinese, are culturally Italian and Italian is the official language. The currency is the Euro.
The Republic of San Marino is one of Europe’s wealthiest countries. In fact, its per capita GDP is one of the highest in the world. Marco told us that because of San Marino’s tax laws, banking has long been one of its major economic activities. Also, it is known a tax haven for celebrities and the wealthy. One example he mentioned is Luciano Pavarotti, who made San Marino his official residence in order to avoid higher income tax rates in Italy. That situation is changing but San Marino still has no VAT (value added tax), which is quite high in other European countries. In Italy, it’s currently 22%.
The landscape was quite rugged by the time we crossed the border from Italy into San Marino. Despite the steep hills, many bicyclists were pedaling alongside our bus on this beautiful Sunday morning. To reach the republic’s capital city, also called San Marino, we took a funicular to the top of Mount Titano. It let us off in a small plaza where the blue and white flags of San Marino were fluttering in the breeze. The plaza was dominated by a bronze statue of Bartolomeo Borghesi (1781-1860), a mathematician, scholar of ancient manuscripts, and a pioneer in the science of numismatics. Born in Italy, he spent the last forty years of his life in San Marino.
From the plaza, we had wonderful views of the surrounding countryside.
Our local guide, a young woman named Sara, told us that the city goes back to Roman times (early 4thcentury) and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. Like all San Marinese, she was quite proud of San Marino’s long history of democracy. And here's an interesting bit of trivia that I learned from Sara: Abraham Lincoln was made an honorary citizen of San Marino after he wrote a letter recognizing it as an independent state when Italy was unified in 1861.
During the Middle Ages, San Marino developed a defensive system that included three tall watchtowers, perched on hilltops that overlook the city. All three are still in place. The photo below shows the First Tower, also known as the Guaita or the Rocca.
We began our walk at the medieval walls that surround the city’s old town. Just outside the walls is an open area called the Crossbowmen’s Quarry. It's a reminder that the crossbow played an important role in defending San Marino during the Middle Ages. Although these weapons are no longer used in warfare, there’s a Crossbow Corps that dresses in traditional clothing and give demonstrations throughout the year at open-air festivals.
After we looked at the Crossbowmen’s Quarry, we came to one of the most important landmarks in the city - San Marino’s Statue of Liberty, located in the main square, Piazza della Liberta. Liberty is depicted as a woman warrior holding a flag in one hand. San Marino’s three watchtowers are represented on her crown. The building in the background is the Palazzo Publico, the seat of government.
As we strolled up and down the streets of the old town with Sara, we admired the historic architecture and the views out over the surrounding countryside.
Inside the neo-classical 19th century basilica, Sara explained how San Marino is named for the founder of the city, Saint Marinus. He was born on an island in the Adriatic off the coast of Dalmatia (modern day Croatia). Because of his Christian faith, he was persecuted by the Roman Emperor Diocletian. He fled to the Italian peninsula where he became a bishop. He founded a chapel on Mount Titano in 301CE and lived there as hermit for the rest of his life. Fiercely independent, Saint Marinus refused to recognize the authority of either the Roman Emperor or the Pope.
I was somewhat surprised, and pleased, to come across a small Holocaust memorial in the center of the old town.
We had a great group lunch that began with a salad garnished with walnuts and pomegranate seeds. This was followed by roasted veggies (eggplant, zucchini, potatoes) and delicious cheese ravioli with shaved truffles. We tried two varieties of local cakes – crostata (rustic free-form tart) with jam and ciambella (simple classic ring-shaped cake) – for dessert. Needless to say, this was all accompanied by wine.
Walking back down to our bus with a pleasantly full stomach, I took my last look at San Marino and the surrounding countryside.
During our drive back from San Marino, I learned more about the Italian economy from Marco. The industrialized North produces cars, iron, ships, and train parts. The economy of the country’s central region is based on agriculture and tourism, with some industry, primarily paper and art materials. In Rome and the surrounding area, tourism, government, restaurants, hospitality are the main sources of revenue. And the South, also known as the Mezzogiorno, remains a deprived area, with its natural resources still taken to be used in the North.
Once we returned to our ship, the focus was once again on food. The fish option at dinner was called pangasius. Hmm. It’s a good thing the menus were available several hours ahead of time. I had looked it up and discovered alternate names for pangasius were swai or iridescent shark catfish. That seemed safe enough to order. It turned out to be a mild white fish. Served with a tomato and olive topping, it was quite tasty.
But the highlight of the meal was definitely the dessert - a luscious lemon pie served with red fruit sauce and lemon sorbet.
I skipped the post-dinner activity to go back to my cabin, do my laundry, and read up on the following day’s destination, Ortona, the subject of my next post.
So interesting!
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