Città di San Marino: The Three Towers

With blue skies and sunshine accompanying us, we set off to check out the iconic towers of San Marino … if you are willing and able to hike uphill — on paved paths and steps that are at times uneven and steep. It was definitely worth the effort.

You can enter two of the three towers … admission included in the San Marino State Museums and Monuments tickets we purchased yesterday for €8 each … 65+ rate. The third one is permanently closed to the public. We opted to enjoy this tower from a distance instead of walking up to and around it.

The Coat of Arms for the Republic of San Marino features stylized depictions of the three towers that are situated on the peaks of Monte Titano … ranging in height from 2,378 feet (725 m) to 2,480 feet (756 m) asl. I’m not sure where the first, second and third designation comes, but it makes sense that it might be based on when the towers were built … 11th, 13th, and 14th centuries, respectively. All have been reinforced and restored many times over the centuries, most recently during the 1900s.

The towers each have more formal names by which they are known — again, respectively … Guaita, Cesta (or Fratta), and Montale. They are connected by a watch path that is 1+ km long. The distance certainly is deceptive as it looks like the towers are spread further apart.

The towers were built for defensive and lookout purposes. In fact, Guaita is a Sammarinese word that means “to keep watch.” Through the centuries, at least two of them also served as prisons — Montale’s prison cells were 26 feet (8m) below ground … known as the “bottom of the tower;” Guaita’s detention cells were in use until 1970 … for sentences of less than six months.

The plan for us was to take the uphill paved path all the way from the parking lot just outside the Fratta Gate to the Cesta Tower, and then return to the Guaita Tower via the alternative Passo delle Streghe (Pass of the Witches).

We started out following the plan, but glimpsing a hole that creates an arch of sorts in the side of the cliff changed our route. We ended up using the Pass of the Witches both ways, detouring briefly to the paved path where required. The Pass is the scenic way to go … with amazing views of not just the country, but all the way to the Adriatic Coast of Italy. The highlight of the views were the towers and the fortifications.

Since 1956, the Cesta Tower has been housing the Museum of Ancient Weapons in what were once rooms occupied by the garrison of crossbowmen who were stationed at the tower during medieval times. On exhibit is a collection of some 2,000 pieces of armament ranging from the 15th to the 17th century.

The museum necessarily meant that we spent more time at Cesta Tower. The courtyard of Guaita Tower, however, added more charm to to the fortifications, so I liked it better. Also of interest here was the prisoner graffiti in the detention cells that were hidden for 200 years under layers of whitewash. One such graffiti — repeated throughout the cell — is of a bearded man whose identity remains a mystery to this day.

After completing our tower visits, we followed the upper roads from the Guaita Tower, which took us to parts of the city that we had not yet explored and back down to the basilica.

Time to get a bite to eat before continuing our wander around San Marino.Read more