The history of San Marino begins in the 300s, when St.
Marinus (San Marino), the leader of a Christian
congregation, settled on Monte Titano in the Appennines. The
small settlement on the mountain eventually developed into a
monastery, then a fortress. Despite many attempts at
interference by foreign states, San Marino has managed to
retain a high degree of independence since the Middle Ages,
and the country is considered to be Europe's oldest
The papacy recognized San Marino as an independent state
in 1631. The state remained independent after Italy's
collection, and from 1862 stands under the protection of
Medieval and early modern times
According to tradition, San Marino's history goes back to
the early 300s, when Saint Marinus (San Marino), along with
a group of Christians, settled in the mountains here to
escape persecution. Castellum Sancti Marini is mentioned 754
and 885. See
abbreviationfinder for geography, history, society, politics, and economy of San Marino. A monastery was built in memory of Marinus, and a
village grew up.
In the 1100s, San Marino was a municipality that, due to
its isolated location and mountain fortresses, could reject
several conquest attempts. During the rivalry between the
Malatesta family in Rimini and the Montefeltro family in
Urbino, San Marino was protected by the latter. The state
was given a constitution in 1599, which was later amended
several times. In 1631, Pope Urban 8 recognized San Marino's
independence and granted the state freedom of duty.
The period after 1800
In 1815, the Vienna Congress affirmed the state's
independence. In 1862, San Marino and Italy entered into an
agreement for eternal friendship and good neighborliness,
and San Marino stood under Italy's protection. The agreement
was confirmed in 1939 and revised in 1971.
After the fascist takeover of power in Italy in 1922, San
Marino also gained fascist rule. Although the Republic had
close ties to Mussolini's Italy during this period, San
Marino soldiers were never sent to the Italian army. The
Sanmarine fascist party was dissolved in 1943, just after
Mussolini was deposed in Italy.
In the March 1945 elections, a coalition consisting of
the Socialist Party and the Communist Party gained a
majority, and this coalition retained power until 1957. In
1978, the Republic gained a new coalition government with
Communists and Socialists, and this remained until 1986. San
Marino is the only country in the West -Europe that has had
a government led by a Communist Party.
Voting rights for women were passed in 1958, and women
could vote for the first time in the 1964 election. The
largest political party in San Marino throughout the
post-war period was the Christian Democratic Party, which
had its highest voter turnout in 1964, when they got over
46% of the voices.
In the period following the fall of the Berlin Wall, the
left side of San Marino retained power for long periods. In
the 2016 election, the Christian Democratic Party was still
the largest, but a coalition of the Reformed Communist Party
and a number of other smaller parties gained greater support
than the Christian Democrats' coalition.
San Marino is not a member of the EU, but has a customs
agreement with all EU countries from 1993. The country
joined the euro cooperation in 1999, and introduced the euro
as currency in 2002. San Marino joined the UN in 1992, the
Council of Europe in 1988 and OSCE in 1973.