San Marino, a museum of weapons. Worth a climb to see!
“Despite the fact that your possessions are small, your state is one of the most worthy in all stories... »
Abraham Lincoln in a letter dated 7 in May 1861 to the captains-regents of San Marino concerning the granting him the title of honorary citizen of the republic
Abraham Lincoln in a letter dated 7 in May 1861 to the captains-regents of San Marino concerning the granting him the title of honorary citizen of the republic
Museum weapons in San Marino. Have you come to rest in Rimini? You can, why not? But the place is not for a beach holiday, to which we, Russians, are accustomed. Hotels, as if it were more softly expressed, disgusting. That is, not all, of course, but those offered by our tour operators, that's for sure. Italians themselves fiercely hate tourists from other countries. They live at their expense and hate. Probably, we were tired of them to death, because from the 19 century, as the fashion was to travel to Italy, it remained! Kitchen - some pasta (albeit in all forms and with a lot of gas stations), and there are hotels where there are not even microwaves! In the tourist area there is a cafe, but the food is bad there. Good food in the "zone for the local", but there must go. There is pizza - PIZZA (and you need to see how the dough itself is turned by the owner on the finger), and everything else ... There are excellent supermarkets where tourists from Germany shop, and where there are wonderful cheeses and tasty (and cheap) wine, but carry it all to my hotel? And a very interesting sea. Bathing areas are fenced off by moles, and behind them is a strong current, and it is better not to swim there.
Approaching San Marino from Rimini ...
Today we will go on a trip to San Marino, a tiny state not far from Rimini, and get to know both it and the local museum of weapons, which you should definitely see. And there are two of them: the old and the modern. But we will, of course, go first!
Car? No, better the bus!
However, if you use this place wisely, as a base, so to speak, you can spend time in Italy with great benefit and see a lot of interesting things. Starting from the same Rimini. Or buy five bus tours in the cities of Northern Italy, including Venice, Milan, Verona, Bologna and Rome. Well, without him? Favorably five, then the fifth free. You can ride the train itself. But ... calculated - will cost more! And you should not try to rent a car at all. In Greece and Crete - yes! There is no! The roads are toll, as well as parking, and in Rome and Venice on 15 euro per hour. So it is better to travel on a comfortable bus. Although ... although there is one place quite close to Rimini, which can be reached by bus, and the place is completely unique. This is the mountain republic of San Marino or the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, if you translate its name literally.
But from here we can already see the three towers - the main strongholds of San Marino. The first is Guaita, built in the 11 century, and has a completely medieval look and, one might even say, a little fairy-like look today. The second is the tallest tower of Chesta (it is in the middle), built back in the 10 century, and the third is Montale, 14 centuries, but it is closed for visiting.
The main administrative building of San Marino is the City Hall and at the same time the Government House or the People’s Palace. Judging by the system of government that exists in San Marino, the latter name is the most correct. Located on Liberty Square. The sculpture in front of the building is the Statue of Liberty.
Its reduced copy for lazy people who are too lazy to go around it!
Guardians of the fortress guarding the People’s Palace. The ceremony of changing the guard at the palace takes place every hour with 8.30 (but only in summer). The uniform they wear is a double-breasted dark green jacket trimmed with red and white lacing, red pants with green stripes, caps with a red pompon and white short leggings. Gold epaulettes and a leather helmet with red and white ostrich feathers are added to the ceremony uniform.
The Republic of San Marino is tiny, but the most democratic ...
Every year this tiny state and, moreover, the oldest in Europe, is visited more - just think! - three million tourists. Which attracts here one important circumstance: the ability to personally see the very real Middle Ages. Here, like nowhere else in the world, many ancient castles, fortresses and fortifications have been preserved, and the people of this country themselves live in small castle towns that have also been well preserved. And, apparently, well Sanmarintsy all these fortifications defended, if they managed to maintain independence in spite of everything!
These three towers of Guaita, Chesta and Montale are also depicted on the coat of arms of San Marino. On the stamp motto inscription: "Free."
Coat of arms close up
The coat of arms and above it a proud impregnable tower with rows of stone makikuly!
By the way, San Marino is also a classic country of the “Law of Pareto” - almost 80% of its territory is covered by mountains, while arable land accounts for only 16,6%, with a total area of something around 60 square. km It is the oldest republic of our planet and, in addition, the most democratic country in the world, because elections are held on a unique “PP principle” - proportional representation, which none of the countries that boast of their “democratic character” have accepted! That is, there, in principle, it is interesting to see everything. Even just stand on the square in front of the government building of the republic and look into the distance from it, and take a deep breath of clean mountain air (altitude 738 m above sea level) and that is a considerable pleasure. And in the capital of San Marino, stretching up the side of Monte Titano mountain, there are many museums and one of them is the Museum of Ancient Weapons, which we will tell you about today. But before this happens, let's get acquainted with the history of this amazing "country".
And this is a bas-relief depicting St. Marina - a simple stonecutter from Dalmatia, who came to Italy to work ...
Without Croats, and there was not ...
It was so that somewhere in 301 AD, a certain stonecutter from the island of Rab in the Adriatic Sea (now this island belongs to Croatia) named Marin climbed to the top of Monte Titano and there he found refuge for himself and his friends from the oppressors of the Christian faith for he was a Christian. On the mountain, he made a quarry and began to trade in stone, but then he built himself a small cell and retired from the mortal world. Naturally, the rumor about the saint spread immediately and many crowds of pilgrims climbed the mountain to receive grace from it. Thus, a small monastery by the name of its founder, which received the name of the monastery of Saint Marina, appeared. Moreover, San Marino was considered an independent state already from 3 in September of the same 301 year, and since the 6th century it has already been a real state, albeit a small one. True, without a protectorate on the part of the neighboring duchy of Urbino, the matter did not go off, but it did not last long, and already in 855, San Marino became completely independent. And it became so that two captains-regent, who are re-elected ... every six months, became heads of state. That is, the experience of public administration is acquired by very many Sanmarinians, that's how. Well, 8 of October 1600 of the year in San Marino adopted a constitution at all, that the rules of the rule of the people were very early there! By the way, sanmarintsy can not stand when they are called Italians. “What are we Italians ?! We are sanmarintsy! ”They proudly say.
The view from the square in front of the palace, just like from any point of San Marino, is simply amazing!
Courtyard of the Tower of Guaita
Fortress masonry
So the Guaita tower looks from below
And so from the tower of Chest
There is only a historical film to shoot. No decorations needed
Of course, there were those who wanted to take their land into their own hands. But ... the mountain slopes were steep, the people of San Marino are brave, the walls of their fortresses are high, and besides, they accurately shot from the crossbows, and those who were interested in foreign lands and wealth were forced to go back home. By the way, there every year on September 3 during the holiday of St. Marino - the founder of the city, crossbow shooting competitions are held - a tradition that goes back to 1537 year. They are held in a specially designated place - the Career of Crossbowmen and the time before it is enough to think, get a visa and ... visit there at this unique event. On this day, the streets of San Marino are literally filled with crowds of people in medieval costumes, eagerly posing for the admiring tourists, beating the drums, the captains-regents open the procession ... Then there is a shooting competition, defining the best shooters, and the best of the nine "castles" of the republic.
You can climb from the plain to the mountain by cable car
And you can slowly wander up the narrow streets? "Higher and higher and higher ..."
On the way, you will meet this local wine shop.
And this store, not far from the Chesta Tower, you will meet too, but our men better not linger in it ...
There are there and here are the streets where our Russian tourists frolic like that! And why not? After all, from the heart ... Where do you find the same here ...
From here it is not difficult to draw the following conclusion: the inhabitants of this mountain republic who were brought up from childhood in such traditions love their history and ... know the weapon well and know how to shoot from it! That is why we are interested in the Museum of the Weapon of San Marino, which is located in the fortress of Chest.
Pole weapon in the exposition of the museum in the tower of Chesta
In fact, there are a lot of museums in San Marino, and some of them are quite unusual. But the museum of weapons is interesting by the fact that it is located in one of the three towers, towering over the ridge of Monte Titano. The state of San Marino bought all the exhibits on display in it for 16 years, after which they were exhibited in four huge halls, and there are more than a thousand and a half copies. The museum’s exhibits are located in large glass windows, which allows viewing them from all sides, but taking pictures through glass is not very convenient.
Here we see the armor of the “sunset epoch”: boas, plate shoulders with “necklace”, cuirass with invoice “armor” - that is all that was used by the riders of the 16-17 centuries
And here are the helmets ... In the center there are two typical armies, on the right there are burginotas, on the left are infantry cabinets.
Cuirassier 17's Armor
And this is the Raytar armor. They went more metal
“People are moving from hall to hall moving here ...”
In the first hall, all kinds of pole arms are set up: hands, corsets, gloughs, halberds - from the roughest, martial to the most sophisticated - the grand 17 centuries. There is also a collection of 15 century battle axes, and you can clearly see from them what a terrible weapon it was in capable hands. Chainmail and swords are displayed in a separate display case. And, again, not at all early, as chain mail as a means of protection was used even in the 17 century.
And what kind of weapons are there ...
In the second hall, armor is exhibited, and made by masters not only from Italy, which would be understandable, but also from England and Germany in the 15-17 centuries. A breastplate made for a child can be considered a very interesting and, of course, a rare exhibit. Moreover, it is quite real, made of steel and decorated with gilding and engraving. And you know where he got here? From England, where he was made at the Royal Armory in Greenwich in the 16 century.
The first arquebus
In the third and fourth halls, a wide variety of firearms are exhibited, including specimens decorated with gold stamping and engraving. A completely unique sample of the 17 century shop rifle by master Michele Lorenzoni is also displayed here. Modern weapons are exhibited in a separate museum - the Palazzo Matsoni Borghese, but in this case it is not as interesting for us as the medieval one.
We go back ... The streets are very narrow and many converge with a wedge.
What is remarkable about this quite ordinary house? And this is what: the top four windows are the windows of the first floor of the cafe, which faces the opposite street!
Is today possible tourist facility without the "train"? Of course not!
City Security Patrol Machine
Bus company "Bonelli", which carries tourists from Rimini to San Marino
We leave San Marino down this street. But here, too, the walls and towers
PS And now just look at this list of San Marino museums and think how long it will take you to visit them all, even if they are small in size: Museum Park Aviation, Montale Gallery and Historic Train, Museum in St. Francis Church, Gallery of Modern Art, Vampire Museum, State Museum, Wax Museum, Torture Museum (I wouldn’t go to these two!), First Tower, Guaita, Second Tower, Chesta, Ferrari Museum, Santa Chiara Monastery and Museum of Expatriation, Museum of Natural History, Reptile Museum, Aquarium (all of them look alike!) And Curiosities Museum.
Last visit worth!
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