Hotel Titano

Location

Contrada Del Collegio, 31, San Marino (Repubblica Di San Marino), 47890

During your stay you can explore the great castle that for centuries guarded the liberty of the land tower around you, and below the steep cobbled streets, ending at cliff-side ramparts. Further below still, level after level of honeyed stone houses and church towers descends to farmland dotted with tiny villages, each one clustered around its central fortress.

Traditionally, San Marino was founded in 301 AD by the country's eponymous patron saint, an exile from Dalmatia long before the Croats arrived there. What is certainly true is that for over a thousand years, as far back as the historical record stretches, the Sammarinese have been a free, independent community. Never in history has this country been ruled by a king, a duke, or a lord, but always by its own free citizens.

The heart of the civil government of San Marino is the Palazzo Pubblico, a white stone tower rearing over the cliffs of Monte Titano. Soldiers in ornate, brightly coloured uniforms guard the massive doors of the Palazzo. On feast days, the heads of the state - the two Captains Regent of the country - lead the members of the Congress of State and the Great and General Council, the tiny republic's Cabinet and Parliament, in solemn procession to the Basilica of San Marino to give thanks for the continued preservation of the land's ancient liberties.