From the crest of Monte Titano, the peak at the hearth of the world's oldest republic, the view stretches west over folded mountain ranges to the borders of the Tuscany; east over Romagna's coastal plain to the Adriatic; north and south the Apennines, Italy's spine, stretch out of sight.

The great castle that for centuries guarded the liberty of this tiny land tower around you, and below the steep cobbled streets of its capital wind away, ending at cliffside 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 Marinowas 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, or a duke, or a lord, but always by its own free citizens.

The hearth of the civil governement 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 od 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 Basalica of San Marino to give thanls for the continued preservation of the land's ancient liberties.