00:00Did you know the world's oldest country is still alive today?
00:04And it's hiding inside Italy.
00:06This is San Marino, officially founded on September 3rd, 301 AD.
00:12That makes it over 1,700 years old.
00:15According to legend, it was started by a Christian stonemason named Marinus.
00:20He was fleeing religious persecution from the Roman emperor Diocletian and hid on top of Mount Titano.
00:26There, he built a tiny monastic community.
00:29That community became a country.
00:32Today, San Marino is the world's oldest surviving sovereign state and the oldest constitutional republic.
00:38Its constitution from the year 1600 is the oldest written constitution still in effect.
00:44It's also one of the smallest, just 61 square kilometers, completely landlocked and surrounded by Italy,
00:51with stunning medieval towers and cobblestone streets.
00:54It survived the Roman Empire, Napoleon, and two world wars, and never fell.
01:00San Marino, small in size, giant in history.
01:04San Marino, small in size, giant in victory.
