Wedged in the middle of Italy but never Italian, San Marino is the world's oldest republic and one of those places that look invented for a fairy tale - three towers atop a mountain, wrapped in fog, over a landscape that stretches to the Adriatic. A country of just 61 square kilometres that has managed to stay independent for over seventeen centuries.

According to legend, the republic was founded on 3 September 301, making it the oldest continuously existing state in Europe. Towering over everything are the three towers on Monte Titano - Guaita, Cesta and Montale - built between the 11th and 13th centuries. Between the first two runs the „Witches' Path," a rocky woodland trail often shrouded in fog, along which you walk as if through another time.

The old town centre is protected by walls and full of vaults, arcades and ceremonial monuments. Here stands the country's oldest church, dedicated to Saint Francis, and Liberty Square with the Parliament Palace and the statue of freedom - raised a whole decade before the one in New York. You climb to the top by cable car from Borgo Maggiore, which departs every fifteen minutes.

San Marino doesn't feed on history alone. Ravioli reign here, and the national dessert is the „torta tre monti" - layers of wafer with chocolate and hazelnut. From artisanal perfumes with lavender and rosemary to homemade wines and liqueurs, the little republic knows how to live well off its independence. Proof that surviving through the centuries doesn't take size - just stubbornness and three good towers.