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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph from Alice Rohe 



SAN MARINO'S WAR HOSPITAL, AT THE ITALIAN FRONT 



The mound in the central foreground is a flower-bed, with the seal of the Republic 



appearing in blossoms 



The day opens with the joyous ringing 

 of bells, and at half-past nine the band 

 plays in the Pianello. The usual cere- 

 mony — the unfurling of the flag, the cor- 

 tege of regents proceeding to the cathe- 

 dral — takes place with a fervor as though 

 ever new. 



After solemn high mass the procession, 

 augmented by many priests, with the sa- 

 cred relic, the head of the saint enclosed 

 in a silver bust, proceeds through the 

 town, blessing the various institutions. At 

 noon comes the vital moment when the 

 archpriest blesses the government palace 

 with the venerated relic. The mid-day 

 hour is tense with religious feeling. 

 Standing beneath the loggia, the priest 

 raises high the revered reliquary. At the 

 instant of elevating the silver-encased 

 head, as though automatically released, 

 the bells peal forth and kneeling San 

 Marino rises to its feet. 



The ceremony of February 5 has es- 

 pecial significance, when from the church 

 of Saint Agatha, in the Borgo, the Sam- 



marinesi climb in procession to the cathe- 

 dral, or La Pieve, as the church of the 

 saint is called ; for it celebrates in the 

 memories of the people the end of the 

 Cardinal Alberoni usurpation. Legend 

 tells how long ago, one cold winter day, 

 the whole Republic being covered with 

 snow, the people shivered in their homes 

 and decided not to fare forth. The next 

 morning, to their surprise, they found the 

 snow marked from Saint Agatha to La 

 Pieve with the tracks of wild beasts who, 

 in rebuke to the people, had held the pro- 

 cession. Needless to say, the function 

 has taken place, regardless of weather, 

 ever since. 



Though intensely devout, the religious 

 atmosphere of San Marino is noticeably 

 different from that of Italy. There is 

 less of form, despite its reverent medi- 

 eval customs. The Sammarinesi seem to 

 have kept alive the primitive spirit of the 

 early Christians in spite of the fact that 

 at the end of the tenth century they were 

 drawn into the hierarchy of the Roman 



