Piazza della Libertà, the square of the Palazzo Pubblico and its statue

Give me five minutes to explain San Marino and I’d bring you to this square. Piazza della Libertà holds the building from which the country is run, the statue that sums up how it sees itself and a viewpoint that reminds you you’re on top of a mountain. All of it free, at any hour.

What Piazza della Libertà is

It’s the main square of the City of San Marino and of the whole country. Before it took its present name it was known as the Pianello, and it was home to the old domus magna communis, a modest late-14th-century building, as the Regency’s own website tells it. The palace that dominates the square today was built on top of it at the end of the nineteenth century.

That palace is the Palazzo Pubblico in San Marino, seat of the Regency, the parliament and the government. In 2026 it’s closed for restoration until 31 October, which leaves you the façade, the balcony and the square. To my mind that’s plenty, because what impresses here is the whole ensemble.

The statue behind the name

In the middle stands the Statue of Liberty, in white marble, in front of the crenellated façade. Wikipedia credits it to Stefano Galletti and dates it to 1876. What an official source does confirm is that the European Central Bank lists it as the design on the 2-cent piece of San Marino’s first set of euro coins, so you may already have it in your pocket without knowing.

What interests me about the statue is what it says. The word libertas is on the national coat of arms, the square is named after liberty, and the speech by Giosuè Carducci that opened the palace was about San Marino’s perpetual liberty. Few small countries explain themselves with a single word quite so visibly.

The views from the balustrade

The far side of the square has no buildings, just landscape. A balustrade opens onto the Romagna plain towards the coast, and on a clear day you can make out the line of the Adriatic. At sunset, with the café terraces lit and the palace silhouetted against the sky, it’s my favourite moment of the day anywhere on Titano.

If views are your thing, this is only one of several. The highest are from the towers, and I rate them all in San Marino’s best viewpoints.

When is the changing of the guard in the square?

It’s worth lowering your expectations here. The Guardia di Rocca guards the Palazzo Pubblico and its ceremonial duty includes a sentry and a changing of the guard, according to the San Marino government, but none of the official sources I could find publishes times or days. With the palace under restoration, I can’t tell you whether the routine carries on as usual either.

What I’d do is what I describe on the page about San Marino’s changing of the guard. Ring the guard post on 0549 882708 if the guard is your main reason for coming, and if not, go up anyway and treat it as a bonus if it happens.

1 April, 1 October and the Sunday after

Twice a year the square has its big day. Twice a year, on 1 April and 1 October, the incoming Captains Regent are sworn in, with ceremonies split between Palazzo Valloni and the Palazzo Pubblico. They’re the country’s joint heads of state, and their term lasts half a year. The newly elected regents are also proclaimed from the palace balcony on the day of their election.

There’s a detail I love that almost nobody knows. On the Sunday following each investiture, at noon, adult Sammarinese citizens may bring petitions on matters of general interest to the council chamber, the istanze d’Arengo. It’s the legacy of the old assembly of heads of household, and I explain it properly in San Marino’s constitution.

Getting there and what’s around it

The historic centre is pedestrianised. The easiest way up is the cable car from Borgo Maggiore, whose top station is less than five minutes’ walk from the square. If you’ve driven, you walk up from car parks P1 to P3 and come in right here.

From the square, the Basilica of Saint Marinus is a stone’s throw away and the Guaita, the first tower, about ten minutes uphill. I’d treat it as the day’s meeting point, the place you drift back to between towers and museums for another look at the plain. It’s also the easiest spot to regroup if your party splits up, because every street in the centre seems to lead back to it.