San Marino Journal
Monday, December 21st Museum of Torture
Since the infamous Torture Museum here had a good rating on TripAdvisor, I decided to stroll around there for a while, you know. Why not take a look at a whole collection of devices invented by man to inflict physical pain on man. Definitely not something positive, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn some history, too.
The overall atmosphere was rather queer, with grotesque, bloody wax figures depicting the victims, and torture instruments placed in every corner of the room.
San Marino seems to have a peaceful history, but I guess it just doesn't work like that. During the medieval ages, the Roman Catholic Church set up an institution to discover and punish acts of heresy (having beliefs contrary to the official religion). They compelled the accused into 'confession' using the torture instruments. If they admit their sin, they were executed. If they deny the accusation, they would be tortured to death.
The museum displays over 100 gruesome torture devices like the Inquisitory Chair and the Knee-Breaker, exemplifying how limitless one's imagination can be when it came to brutality and causing someone to suffer. It is truly depressing to know that this is a part of humanity. We are the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution, after all.
(Right now, Roman Catholicism dominates over other religions in San Marino, with 97.2% of the population being Roman Catholics)
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The Knee-Breaker
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Tuesday, December 22nd Palazzo Public
San Marino has the oldest written governing documents still in effect. Yeah, we were shocked by that too when the tour guide at the castle (now a government building) told us that. It isn't a formal constitution, but a series of six books, Leges Statutae Republicae Sancti Marini (Law of the Republic of San Marino), written in Latin during the late 16th century. It describes civil law procedures, the various councils, criminal law, and citizen rights. The Sammarinese have been following it from the beginning of the 17th century, and politics have been going smoothly ever since.
"We are very proud of our country," the tour guide boasted (honestly she was a bit too proud).
She went on to explain that there are two Head-of-States that are elected, each one from opposing parties to provide checks and balances. Every six months, they are reelected to prevent them from exploiting their authority. Citizens can file complaints against the Head-of-States if they fail to fulfill their promises (although the tour guide assured us that that was never necessary).
Because of this, San Marino is sometimes referred to "the nation of peace and freedom." Even though the country may be the fifth smallest in the world, the government surely runs efficiently!
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The government building, or the Palazzo Pubblico ("Public Place").
Image by: sanmarinosite.com |
Wednesday, December 23rd San Marnino High School
So, when we were trying to find the art museum (because who doesn't want to learn to paint like Da Vinci), a high school girl carrying a bright backpack approached us.
She asked,
"Are you guys trying to go to the Museo delle Curiosità?"
She had an Italian accent of course, but otherwise her English was good! I was impressed, but I guess you could expect that for a country with a literacy rate of 96%. Look at us, the U.S. is only at 86%!
She friendly guided us there, only to find out that IT WAS CLOSED (fine, fine, it was because I didn't check the opening hours).
The girl probably sensed that I was feeling under the weather, so she offered us a visit to her school. When we first took a look at San Marino High School, it was just... beautiful (I'm sorry, I couldn't think of any other adjective). The walls were perfectly covered with a layer of paint, and even the bushes were trimmed into this square shape!
It turns out the reason for this is that the Sammarinese put a lot of value in education, and pay high property taxes that are used mostly on public elementary and secondary education. Makes sense, right? This makes everything free, basically, including school lunch and textbook fees. The only con to this is that San Marino's economy isn't looking very good nowadays, so the extra costs may feel frustrating for parents. Whether of not the property taxes should be heavily spended on school maintenance is an ongoing debate. I'm not exactly an expert in this field, but I hope they can continue funding the schools!
P.S. Yes! I knew coming to San Marino was a good choice. I learned a new thing today:
SCHOOLS IN SAN MARINO ARE SO CLEAN AND SATISFYING TO LOOK AT!
