St. Marinus

St. Marinus (died c. 366, by tradition) was, according to legend, a Christian stonemason from the island of Rab in Dalmatia who came to work on the rebuilding of the walls of Rimini on the Adriatic coast of Italy. Ordained a deacon by the bishop of Rimini, he withdrew from the world to live as a hermit atop the rugged limestone peak of Monte Titano, devoting himself to prayer, penance, and manual labor.

Disciples gathered around him, and the small community he founded on the mountain endured and grew into a settlement that, over the centuries, developed into the tiny independent Republic of San Marino — which claims descent from his refuge and honors him as its founder, making it, by tradition, the world's oldest surviving republic. He is venerated as a saint and remains the patron and namesake of the republic that grew from his hermitage.