microstate

S03E02 San Marino Audio

In this episode we’ll be talking about the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, the world’s oldest constitutional republic, and a country that is, in itself, a historical oddity. Similarly to other European microstates, such as Monaco, Liechtenstein and Andorra it’s a relic of a time when borders were formed based on the area that a cannon could reach from a city’s walls. Founded on the slopes of Mount Titano in 301 AD, this tiny republic has seen the rest of Europe consolidate around it, surviving attacks by other self-governing Italian city-states, the Napoleonic Wars, the unification of Italy, and two world wars. Today, it’s borders are entirely enclosed by Italy, making it one of only three countries in the world to be enclosed by another nation.

It is the smallest independent state in Europe after Vatican City and Monaco and, until the independence of Nauru (1968), was the smallest republic in the world, at just 61 square kilometre (23.6 square miles). Tourism dominates the economy of modern day San Marino. which plays host to more than three million visitors every year, while the republic is home to just over 30,000 people.

Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland . (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle @thatthomasfella)

Here are a few things you may want to read/watch more about:

Of general interest: “Two Quaint Republics, Andorra and San Marino” by Virginia W. Johnson (1913); Video Profile of the country by Rick Steeves shows great footage of the mountain; “The Republic of San Marino“, p. 285 onwards, The Month vol. 26, 1876; Summary of the history ‘from Saint to State’;
There are a few versions of the various stories of how the man San Marino came to this place: some examples online include SanMarinoSite.com, Catholic Saints, and the story about the bears can be found here.
Listen to the excellent episode of “In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg” all about the history of Constantine the Great and how Rome went from persecuting to promoting Christianity almost overnight.
The monk Eugippius’ biography of St Severus, including one of the earliest written references to San Marino‘s community at Monte Titano
What are Captains Regent?
The occupation of Cardinal Guilio Alberoni
An article on Hidden Europe about Gaspard Monge‘s diplomatic mission to San Marino on behalf of General Napoleon Bonaparte, who was camped nearby
If you’d like to know more about the use of the Roman fasces symbol and how it was co-opted by fascists, this page about its role in various flags around the world might be of interest
Newreel footage from the Fatti di Rovereta coup d’etat is here, and a 1957 article in Life magazine describes it.
Video of crossbow competitions in costume, and performances of the Federazione Balestrieri Sammarinesi in San Marino and in a Shanghai Tourism Expo
Some thoughts from Reddit about San Marino’s soccer prowess...

Music you heard was from the following sources:

2010 Mediaeval Festival in San Marino
Street musicians in San Marino
Little Tony and His Brothers “O Che Tipo Rock” (1960); the rock star was a Sammiranese citizen
“Puzzle pieces” by Lee Rosevere, used under Creative Commons 4.0 License (by attribution)

A massive thanks to all of our patrons on Patreon who are supporting season 3. If you’d like to join them and see what rewards are available for supporters, and get a peek behind the curtain check out www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast. We really appreciate every penny!

S02E09 Liechtenstein Audio

In this episode of 80 Days: an exploration podcast, we’ll be talking about Liechtenstein, a tiny European principality, sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria that is still ruled by the same family since the early 18th century. In a small valley towards the beginning of the mighty Rhine river, it was frequented by the Romans and incorporated into the empire before that all went sideways and the Vandals earned their name. After passing through the infuential spheres of central Europe through the centuries they were eventually taken over by the Liechtenstein family in a bid to get more favor with the Austro-Hungarian Empire (which worked a treat as it happened.) They side-stepped the devastation of World War 2 and spent the latter half of the 20th century becoming a financial services powerhouse, while also making a surprisingly successful go of manufacturing – dentures and drills in particular. Builders drills. Not dentists drills. Though there’s a business plan in there somewhere.

Liechtenstein – strong contender for the nicest place we’ve profiled. Apologies to Liberia…

Your hosts are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Hong Kong, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Switzerland/Liechtenstein. (Theme music by Thomas O’Boyle)

In a break from our normal desktop research, we sent the intrepid Joe Byrne into the field with the savage Liechtensteiners to risk his life in doing some field research. Turns out it’s super safe and lovely. Who knew? Well you did if you listened in, as well as the chilled out nature of the locals and how normal it is to just run into some royalty if you live there.

Proof of Joe’s expedition below-

That’s Joe there, showcasing the Liechtenstein flag like a boss.

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Above are a selection of photos from Liechtenstein, including the Roman ruins and the bronze Celtic figurines discussed in the episode. More photos can be seen here.

Here are some HOTLINKS (guitar solo here) to give you all the extra background you apparently weren’t sufficed with in our mega-bumper podcast, you info-hungry maniac:

Some music associated with Liechtenstein:

National Anthem with a familiar tune
Some work of Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, Liechtenstein’s most famous composer
The “Liechtensteiner Marsche” by Josef Strauss
“Liechtensteiner Polka“
Al Walser’s song “I Want My Money Now” [and an article about the controversy of his Grammy nomination]

Thanks to Sarah O’Farrell and Niall O’Leary for your support on Kickstarter and Sinéad Dowling who helped our man on the ground Joe Byrne with his visit and research. Thanks too to Martin Meier for a useful conversation and Donat Büchel, curator of the Liechtensteinische Landesmuseum for some assistance. Special thanks to students Julia and Sebbi from the Liechtensteinische Gymnasium (High School) for a long and informative interview – they make videos that can be found on YouTube.

Thanks too to our sponsor Hairy Baby, who in addition to making the funniest Irish-themed t-shirts, have also produced the official 80 Days shirt for our supporters. Find it by clicking here. You can get 10% off anything on www.hairybaby.com by using our promo code “80DAYS”.