An Interlude in San Marino

Text and photos by Piero Cogoni.

Having to plan a short holiday between Romagna and Tuscany, I took the opportunity to make a stop in S. Marino, all the more so since I'd never happened to go there despite it being just around the corner. I thought of starting the visit in the evening to savour the atmosphere closer to times gone by, since it's a small medieval centre, so as to imagine it with knights, ladies and courtiers among the alleys lit with dim, yellowish lights. I found only groups of tourists in knickerbockers wandering through the alleys, while the shops were pulling down their shutters, looking for somewhere to have dinner at reasonable prices. In many spots I could satisfy my passion for photographing glimpses of ancient walls and monuments.

I came back the next morning to visit the historic centre and its main monuments; the floods of tourists among the alleys and little squares had increased and many walls are lined with displays of souvenirs of every kind, almost hiding the old walls, ancient doors and construction details that, as a whole, lose their meaning. The historic centre can unfortunately be considered an excellent shopping centre for buying liqueurs, jewellery, models, stamps and coins, replicas of medieval weapons, Japanese katana and many toy and soft-air weapons. What's frightening is the almost normality with which people go in and choose a weapon among all those on display as if they were at the greengrocer's stall. While I was buying the replica of a medieval sword, beside me some boys were buying a submachine gun and 25 kg.

of plastic pellets; outside, a child was rechecking the pistol he'd just bought while his father, with a rifle under his arm, scolded him. Another curiosity is the fact that you find many objects with the classic fascist and Nazi symbols. With him I made a joke about the naturalness that on that occasion makes everyone behave in ways we normally wouldn't have done back in our home cities, and we started smiling at how situations make us take on different behaviours. Among the most important monuments to visit are the Towers of the defensive system called Prima Torre or Rocca Guaita, the Second Tower or Rocca Cesta and the Third Tower or Montale, and the torture museum. I visited only the first two Towers and then the visit continued inside the Government Palace with the hall of the knights, and then, once I'd retrieved the car, I carried on with my holiday. Did you know that S.

Marino is governed by a single chamber with two captains regent who can't hold that seat for more than six months? Best wishes and happy travels, wherever you may be.