50 Fun Facts About San Marino

San Marino is entirely surrounded by which country?

It sits on the slopes of the Apennines about 10 km from the Adriatic coast.

San Marino ranks where among the world's countries by area?

Just over 61 square kilometres; Vatican City is the only other microstate on the Italian peninsula.

The capital, the City of San Marino, sits atop which mountain?

Its summit at 749 metres is the country's highest point and carries the Three Towers.

San Marino's largest settlement is not the capital but which border town?

It lies in the municipality of Serravalle where the San Marino Highway crosses into Italy as the SS72.

By tradition, San Marino was founded in AD 301 by a stonemason saint fleeing which Adriatic island?

Marinus and his friend Leo had come to Rimini as masons; he built a small church on Monte Titano and 3 September, his feast, is the national day.

San Marino's national holiday, 3 September, marks what?

It is the saint's feast day; the earliest evidence of a monastic community on the mountain dates from centuries later.

In which year did San Marino's borders become fixed, when Faetano, Fiorentino, Montegiardino and Serravalle joined?

Chiesanuova had joined in 1320; a papal judgment of 1291 had already confirmed the community's tax exemption.

Which infamous son of a pope occupied San Marino for six months in 1503?

Pope Julius II restored the republic's independence after his father Alexander VI's death.

A 1543 attempt to conquer San Marino failed when the invading army did what?

The Sammarinesi credited Saint Quirinus with the fog; the would-be conqueror was a nephew of the future Pope Julius III.

Independence from Alberoni's 1739 occupation was restored on which figure's feast day?

Pope Clement XII reversed his legate's takeover on 5 February 1740.

In 1797 Napoleon offered San Marino what, which its regents politely declined?

Regent Antonio Onofri had won Napoleon's friendship; the regents feared other states' revenge if they took land.

Which Italian unification hero found refuge in San Marino and later let it stay independent?

San Marino and the new Kingdom of Italy signed a Convention of Friendship in 1862.

Which US president wrote that San Marino proved republican government could be 'secure and enduring'?

The letter came during the American Civil War, when the endurance of republics was very much on his mind.

San Marino claims to be the first existing state to have abolished what, in 1865?

It had not actually been used since the 1400s.

On 26 June 1944 San Marino was bombed by Allied aircraft on what mistaken belief?

The neutral republic protested that no belligerent had been allowed in; its wartime railway tunnels were sheltering refugees.

From 1945 to 1957 San Marino had one of the world's earliest elected coalitions of which kind?

It fell after the Rovereta affair; the Sammarinese Fascist Party had run the country from 1923 to 1943.

San Marino's two heads of state, elected every six months, hold what title?

They are chosen from opposing parties and take office on 1 April and 1 October; citizens then have three days to file complaints against outgoing ones.

The two-headed regency is modelled on the joint office of which ancient officials?

The council plays the Senate; the first two captains were named in 1243.

San Marino's earliest written governing documents still in force are the Statutes of which year?

That is why it claims the world's oldest constitution still in effect.

San Marino's parliament, the Grand and General Council, has how many members?

Elected every five years by proportional representation; it also elects the ten-member Congress of State and the Council of Twelve.

San Marino is divided into how many castelli, or municipalities?

Each has a Castle Captain and council; the 44 smaller curazie are the equivalent of Italian frazioni.

In 2022 San Marino elected Paolo Rondelli as a Captain Regent, making him the world's first what?

Mirko Tomassoni had become the first head of state with a disability in 2007, and San Marino has had more female heads of state than any country.

Which San Marino ceremonial unit, active since 1295, still gives medieval-weapon shooting displays?

About 80 volunteers in medieval dress; the Guard of the Rock patrols borders and guards the seat of government.

San Marino uses the euro without being in the EU. Which of these non-EU states does NOT use it?

Monaco and Vatican City complete the six; Liechtenstein uses the Swiss franc. San Marino mints its own national side on euro coins.

Before the euro, San Marino's currency was what?

It was tied to the Italian lira; the country's coin and stamp issues have long been prized by collectors.

San Marino's postage stamps, first issued in 1877, are mostly sold to whom?

They are a significant source of income; visitors can also buy souvenir passport stamps at the tourist office.

San Marino claims the world's highest rate of what, at about 1.6 per person?

It is one of a handful of countries with more vehicles than people, children included.

Under its conventions with its neighbour, San Marino receives an annual stipend at cost of which goods?

In return it may not grow tobacco or make goods under Italy's state monopoly, and all imports must pass through Italy.

Roughly how many tourists visited San Marino in 2014, versus a population near 34,000?

Tourism is over 22 percent of GDP, and on average there is one tourist present for every three residents.

The Funivia cable car links the capital with which town below?

The two-minute ride runs every fifteen minutes and carries about 500,000 passengers a year.

Which of the Three Towers of San Marino is the oldest, built in the 11th century?

Cesta, on the highest summit, dates from the 13th century and Montale, still privately owned, from the 14th.

San Marino's historic centre and its mountain joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in which year?

The decision was taken at the committee's session in Quebec.

What are the two colours of San Marino's flag?

The coat of arms in the centre shows the three towers on three peaks under a closed crown, with the motto Libertas.

San Marino's best-known dessert, a chocolate-covered wafer layer cake, is called what?

The 'Cake of the Three Mountains' depicts the Three Towers; the cuisine otherwise mirrors Emilia-Romagna and Marche.

Davide Gualtieri scored after 8.3 seconds against which team in 1993 World Cup qualifying?

San Marino still lost 7-1 and finished the campaign with one point and 46 goals conceded.

San Marino's first Olympic medals came at Tokyo 2020 in shooting and which other sport?

Two shooters took silver and bronze, and Michigan-born Myles Amine added a wrestling bronze.

Which shooter became the first San Marino citizen to win an Olympic medal?

Her silver and bronze in Tokyo made San Marino the smallest nation ever to medal.

Which singer represented San Marino four times at the Eurovision Song Contest?

Her 'Maybe' in 2014 gave the country its first final; the Turkish singer Serhat placed 19th in 2019.

The Formula One San Marino Grand Prix, run from 1981 to 2006, was actually held at which Italian circuit?

Ayrton Senna, a three-time winner there, died at the Tamburello curve during the 1994 race.

What percentage of San Marino's population professed Catholicism in 2011?

Catholicism is nonetheless not the established religion, and there is no bishop's seat inside the country.

Besides Italian, what traditional dialect, considered endangered, is spoken in San Marino?

It is spoken mainly by the elderly; the country holds a seat in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.

Between 1932 and 1944 San Marino was linked to which Italian city by an electric narrow-gauge railway?

Bombed in the war, its tunnels sheltered refugees; only an 800-metre heritage line has run since 2012.

San Marino joined the United Nations in which year?

It had joined the Council of Europe in 1988 and remains outside the European Union.

What is the name of San Marino's seat of government, guarded by the Guard of the Rock in the capital?

Its Changing of the Guard is the ceremony most tourists see; the guards double as criminal police officers.

San Marino's WWI volunteers ran what kind of facility on the Italian front?

Italy had cut the neutral republic's telephone lines, suspecting it might harbour Austrian spies.

About how long does the Funivia cable car ride between Borgo Maggiore and the capital take?

The cars run every fifteen minutes and carry around 500,000 passengers a year, with views across Rimini province to the Adriatic.

In which sport does a San Marino club play in Italy's top division and win European Cups?

The club won the continental club championship in 2006, 2011 and 2014 and has hosted the tournament four times.

How high above sea level is the summit of Monte Titano, San Marino's highest point?

The country's lowest point, the Ausa River, sits at just 55 metres, and San Marino has no significant lakes at all.

Which San Marino unit, formed in 1741 and dressed in blue, white and gold, is nicknamed for nobles?

Its formal job is protecting the Captains Regent and the Grand and General Council during sessions, and it appears on countless postcards.

In which year was San Marino's Gendarmerie, its militarised police force, established?

The Gendarmerie is full-time and works alongside volunteer military corps; its headquarters also houses the country's Interpol office.