OUR LITTLEST ALLY 



By Alice Rohe 



RISING sheer and majestic from 

 the plains of Romagna, an impos- 

 . ing mountain dominates the land- 

 scape from Rimini to the distant rolling 

 hills and peaks of the Apennines. 



Atop this great rock, whose serrated 

 flanks and menacing heights seem inac- 

 cessible, three towers soar in picturesque 

 silhouette against the sky-line. 



The nearer approach over ever-upward 

 roads, ascending from the Adriatic to- 

 ward this giant mount, brings increasing 

 doubt as to its accessibility. 



It is Mount Titanus, and the towers 

 piercing the blue sky are the famous 

 "Penne" of San Marino, the littlest Re- 

 public in the world, the land of perpetual 

 liberty, of hereditary peace. 



An eminence well worth the struggle to 

 reach in these war-tortured times ! 



Austrian dirigibles soar above Rimini, 

 its nearest railway connection, 13 miles 

 away, dropping their destructive bombs ; 

 but the Land of Peace stands calm and 

 unafraid, wrapped in the undisturbed 

 autonomy of sixteen centuries. 



The entire landscape to south and west 

 is marked by mounts and peaks capped 

 with medieval towers, bringing to mind 

 those illustrated fairy tales of childhood, 

 with their deeds of wickedness and chiv- 

 alry. Legends and fairy tales indeed are 

 interwoven in this marvelous panorama ; 

 but history, too — history of violent and 

 bloody warfare — rises phantom - like 

 about those warning heights. They are 

 the towers of the Malatesta, and from 

 Rimini, past Verruchio, where these ty- 

 rants first established their lordship, to 

 right and left of the river Marecchia, 

 their story is written before San Marino. 



THE MOUNTAIN OF THE TITANS 



But long before the Malatesta began 

 their cruel sway, Mount Titanus had its 

 place in the dawn of story, for it is no 

 other than that famed mountain of myth- 

 ology which the angry Titans raised 

 in their efforts to reach Jove and drive 

 him from his throne. 



Having left Rimini, with its stern re- 

 minders of war in air and sea, its sand- 

 bagged cathedral, temple of Sigismondo 

 Malatesta, miles behind, the country of 

 peace becomes an inspiring goal. 



The frontier is crossed with scant for- 

 mality. Serravalle, largest of the castelli, 

 or towns, of the Republic, first stop on 

 San Marino soil, is passed, and the Borgo, 

 nestling at the foot of the foreboding- 

 looking mountain, shows quaintly narrow 

 streets and arched loggias, as the cour- 

 ageous auto plunges determinedly up that 

 precipitous drive. 



At last it stops before an ancient gate- 

 way, where all passengers must descend. 

 Then through its massive arch, up a 

 steep, narrow street, the way leads with 

 many turns, past little squares and mar- 

 ket-place, to the cherished spot of the 

 Sammarinesi, the Pianello, Piazza della 

 Liberta, with its statue of Liberty in the 

 center. Here is the government palace, 

 modern edifice of fourteenth century 

 architecture. Here are the postal and 

 telegraph offices and the Tribunal. Doves, 

 fitting symbols, flutter about the palace, 

 descending to get their daily food from 

 the natives ; then flying away to rest be- 

 neath the statue of San Marino, standing 

 guard over his Republic, from the palace 

 angle. Before the wall, which seems to 

 protect the promenaders from falling into 

 the depths below, a view of unusual love- 

 liness is unfolded. 



A PANORAMA OP UNSURPASSED SPLENDOR 



But it is from the "Rocca," the ancient 

 fortress, still higher, ever higher, that a 

 panorama of unsurpassed splendor is re- 

 vealed — mountains and peaks, sea and 

 plain, white ribbon-like roads winding 

 through level and height toward distant 

 parts. Ranges of mountains roll wave- 

 like away into the horizon. Carpegna, 

 cradle of the counts of Montefeltro, 

 later dukes of LIrbino, looms majestically. 

 To the left a black streak against the hori- 

 zon marks Ravenna's famed Pineta, or 

 Pine Forest. Again one sees Rimini and 



139 



