San Marino

San Marino is the oldest surviving state and constitutional republic in the world: the continuation of the monastic community was founded on September 3, 301 by the holy deacon and stonemason Marinus van Arbe. Legend has it that Marinus left the then Roman colony of Arba in 257, when the future emperor Diocletian issued a decree calling for the reconstruction of Rimini's city walls, which had been destroyed by Liburnian pirates. The Constitution of San Marino, enshrined in 1600, is the world's oldest constitution still in force.