San Marino is another of the world’s micro-states. Like Liechtenstein, Andorra, the Vatican and Monaco, it exists in a bizarre state of independence, issuing its own stamps, having its own government and even possessing its own army, even though in all but name it is part of another country – in this case, Italy. San Marino is surrounded by Italy, and the people who live there speak Italian, spend the same currency (the euro) and travel between both nations as if no border exists. According to legend, a Croatian stonemason called Marinus founded San Marino in the year 301. Marinus was a committed Christian who, to escape persecution in his homeland, sailed to Italy and settled in the Italian town of Rimini. There he downed his hammers and chisels and became a priest, rising to the
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