San Marino [antikvár]

THE ORIGINS_Out of the murky darkness of the MiddleAges very little reliable historical evidencehas reached us. All we can do is givecredit to legend where an element of truthis always present. So far as the origins ofSan Marino are concerned, the truth con-tained in the legend is far easier to believegiven the existence of that historical mar-vel which is the Republic of San Marino.The legend narrates the story of astonemason from Loparo, a small villagelocated south of the town of Arbe inDalmatia. Together with a group of fellow-countrymen he came to Rimini to help withthe building of the port. Having becomea Christian, he was forced to flee thepersecutions of the Roman emperor, Di-ocletian - another native of Dalmatia - andtake refuge, along with numerous otherfellow exiles and Christians, on the inac-cessible heights of Mount Titano.A small community thus came into beingcentred around this stonemason who wasaccepted and recognised as Head and Pri-or. He was called Marinus either becausethat was his real name or because he hadcome from the sea. Harmony and peacehelped the community to overcome thetremendous difficulties represented by thebarrenness and restricted size of their newhome whose inaccessibility was howevera guarantee against attack and perse-cution.On his death, Marinus was buried in thesmall church he himself had built. In thischurch the descendents of the first inhabi-tants continued to gather in memory ofMarinus whose identity faded in time,whose holiness was acknowledged andasserted by the people, whose fame grewuntil it became legend.Marinus the Dalmatian, the Founder Saint,according to sacred tradition, arrived onMount Titano in the year 301 A.D. For thepeople of San Marino, that was the yeartheir Republic was born.