Città di San Marino ... deserted in the early morning hours.

A government building overlooking Piazza della Libertà — Città di San Marino

The Public Palace overlooking Piazza della Libertà & San Marino's Lady Liberty.

Chiesa di San Francesco — Città di San Marino

Porta San Francesco, currently the main entrance to the city, dates back to 1451.

"Carving the History of Freedom" by K. Sakaguchi — Città di San Marino

The Cliff Gate ... on our way down to the trailhead.

Glimpse of Borgo Maggiore on the way to the trailhead.

Panorama of the lower reaches of the country ... Adriatic Sea in the distance (from the trail).

Borghesi was a renowned Italian numismatist/epigraphist; moved to San Marino in 1821.

In the square near the cable car terminal are 3D panels like this one for the visually challenged.

From the panoramic terrace ... lower reaches of San Marino and the Adriatic Sea.

Dedicated to the "Victims of the Bombing of 26 June 1944" — Città di San Marino

The Basilica of Saint Marinus — Città di San Marino

Ceiling of the nave of the Basilica of Saint Marinus — Città di San Marino

The Basilica of Saint Marinus with the statue of the saint — Città di San Marino

The view from our table at La Terrazza — Città di San Marino

Lunch @ La Terrazza — Città di San Marino

Fontana al Giardino dei Liburni ... marks the inauguration of the new aqueduct in 1962.

The Volunteers' Loggias houses San Marino's modern and contemporary art collection.

Bronze sculpture in the Myriam Michelotti Garden — Città di San Marino

"La Repubblica" by Italian sculptor Vittorio Pochini (1899) — State Museum.

Replicas of the "Domagnano Treasure" (originals in museums around the world) — State Museum.

Replica cloisonné piece from the Domagnano Treasure — State Museum.

An old Coat of Arms from the Porta San Francesco — State Museum.

19th century statue of "La Libertà" by Stefano Galletti — State Museum.

18th century painting of a view of San Marino with St Marinus, the stonemason — State Museum.

19th century bas-relief carving of Deacon St Marinus — State Museum.

17th century ceramic plates depicting Spanish soldiers — State Museum.

Bell crater type of Gnathia (type of Italian pottery) late 4th-early 3rd century BCE.

Città di San Marino: Day 2

September 23 in San Marino ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F

Another beautiful, blue-sky day … comfortably cool temps that were on the warm side in the sun.

We set out this morning with the idea of hiking the Sentiero della Rupe (the Cliff Path) that runs above and behind the iconic towers of San Marino. The trail is only about 3 miles. However, you have to walk practically half-way down the mountain to reach the trailhead. No problem, we thought. Until we got to the trail and started hiking!

The dirt path was strewn with decaying leaves that hid stumbling blocks waiting to trip the unwary. The uneven stone steps along the way were covered in slippery moss … with nothing to stop you from tumbling off the narrow path. We hiked for about 10 minutes, spending the entire time watching where we put our feet. And this wasn’t even the steep stretch that we were warned about.

Nope … not fun. So, we retraced our steps to the trailhead, continued down into Borgo Maggiore, another one of this small country’s municipalities, and took the funivia (cable car) up to Città di San Marino. It took just two minutes to go back up the 1,000+ feet (305m) we had walked down in 30 minutes!

The cable car dropped us off at the overlook in the lower reaches of San Marino. From there, we took a meandering stroll, going uphill and downhill streets … some of them relatively steep. We stopped to visit some of the sites marked on the map before going to La Terrazza, a restaurant with a panoramic view that includes the Public Palace.

The beauty of arriving just as the restaurant was opening was that we had our pick of the two-top tables. The food was delicious; the wine perfect for our palate; and the lemon-flavored dessert very refreshing.

After lunch, we planned to check out the council rooms at the Public Palace — one of the sites included in the combo ticket for the state museums and monuments … with the caveat that it is only possible when the parliament is not in session. No can do today, we were told. The State Museum itself was open, however, so we went there to wrap up our day of sightseeing.

We have one more day left here and hope to use it to hike up to the towers … via the city streets that promise a steep ascent in places … but easier than a narrow, dirt path with hidden stumbling blocks.Read more