San Marino celebrated the 150th anniversary of its Statue of Liberty, one of the Republic’s most recognisable symbols, with an evening event on Saturday 12 September that brought together institutions and the public in Piazza della Libertà. The programme included a keynote lecture, the opening of the temporary exhibition “Pacifica e Fiera” (“Peaceful and Proud”), and the unveiling of a commemorative coin created for the anniversary.
The initiative, held under the patronage of the Captains Regent and organised by the Secretariats of State for Internal Affairs, Education and Culture, and Territory, in collaboration with the Institutional Secretariat, took place in the presence of Captains Regent Alice Mina and Vladimiro Selva and Secretaries of State Andrea Belluzzi, Teodoro Lonfernini and Matteo Ciacci.
“This monumental symbol has always embodied the very essence of San Marino’s identity, its hospitality, sovereignty and peaceful vocation,” reads a statement from the Institutional Secretariat.
The first part of the evening centred on the lecture “Liberty: between History, Art and Culture”, delivered by Professor Valentina Rossi and Sister Maria Gloria Riva, who explored the value of freedom through its historical, artistic and conceptual evolution.
The anniversary also offered an opportunity to revisit the monument’s history. The Statue of Liberty was carved in white Carrara marble by Florentine sculptor Stefano Galletti and donated to the Republic in 1876 by the German countess Otilia Heyroth Wagener, Duchess of Acquaviva. It was unveiled on 30 September of that same year, after the donor was received at Palazzo Pubblico by Captains Regent Gaetano Belluzzi and Sante Lonfernini.
Celebrations then continued in the atrium of Palazzo Pubblico, where the Captains Regent inaugurated the temporary exhibition “Pacifica e Fiera”, promoted by the Cultural Institutes and curated by Roberto Ganganelli. At the same event, the commemorative coin created by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office to mark the statue’s 150th anniversary was presented.
The inauguration was accompanied by musical interludes performed by students of the San Marino Music Institute. For the occasion, the waltz composed by maestro Costantino Pepe in honour of the Duchess of Acquaviva was performed — the same piece linked to the 1876 ceremony, whose original piano score is preserved in the State Library.
“Today we are not only celebrating 150 years, but engaging in a much broader reflection,” said Secretary of State for Internal Affairs Andrea Belluzzi. “Quid est Libertas is a theme deeply dear to us, and that is precisely the point of this reflection: what has freedom truly been? What did it mean when the statue symbolising it was first erected? What were the core values that formed its foundation?”
For Secretary of State for Culture Teodoro Lonfernini, “Too often we risk taking Liberty for granted, reducing it to a daily habit or a marble monument. Freedom is not a privilege inherited once and for all, but an attitude that must be protected every day through culture, respect and participation.”
Secretary of State for Territory Matteo Ciacci, meanwhile, highlighted the relationship between the monument and the Republic’s heritage: “Celebrating its 150th anniversary means not only remembering a symbol, but reaffirming our commitment to caring for the heritage we have received and to enhancing it so that it continues to live on and speak to future generations.”
At the end of the day, the Captains Regent and the promoting Secretaries of State expressed their satisfaction with the celebrations, emphasising that the initiative was meant to pay tribute to the statue and to recall the Republic’s values of peace, sovereignty and freedom.
