Urbino’s just North of Umbria and is a small university town and the location of a Renaissance palace that was built for Duke Federigo da Montefeltro. We arrived in the city just before siesta so the streets were full of students leaving class and chasing food in the various cafes. Luckily we could get into the palace before it closed as it now houses the art gallery, besides viewing the palace and its impressive interior we became a little more cultured as well.

San Marino is an anomaly within Italy, an independent republic sitting on top of a large hill or small mountain depending on which way you look at it. Marino claims to be the oldest constitutional republic in the world: Marinus of Rab, a Christian stonemason fleeing the religious persecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, founded it in 301 A.D.. San Marino's constitution, dating back to 1600 A.D., is the world's oldest written constitution still in effect. So after a drive up a long winding road up through residential and light commercial buildings you are directed to a carpark and like in Umbria there is a series of lifts that take you up to the old city and its small castle. The old city today is geared towards tourist but it provides an amazing view over the surrounding country from the Adriatic 40 km’s away to the mountains of central Italy.

Urbino and the Republic of San Marino Web gallery