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Alvaro Casali (1896 – 1978) was a doctor, socialist, political exile during the Fascist period, councillor and regent captain, founder of the Independent Democratic Socialist Party, and writer and historian of the Republic of San Marino. Among the books preserved in the State Library is a “Selected Writings” that tells the story of Giuseppe Garibaldi’s flight to Titan (2024 marks the 175th anniversary of his “escape”). It begins in a city in Romagna, in the north. The book is written in the first person by Alessandro Giccioli, a nobleman of the Republic of San Marino from Ravenna.
We are in the mid-1800s, and Rome, the capital of the Byzantine Empire (402-476 AD), is threatened by the “Papal Government”, not particularly loved by the citizens. Giuccioli and others decide to retire to Monteleone. On July 4, 1849, he learns that “Rome, after a hard defense, has fallen into the hands of the French, who have reestablished the Papal Government there. Now everything is over”.
Just over a month later, on July 10, Alessandro Guiccioli’s father received “a letter from Count Alberto Locatelli warning him that warrants had been issued for the arrest of all members of the Constituent Assembly of Rome and advising him to take safe action.” The father of the nobleman of the Republic of San Marino followed Locatelli’s advice, “disguised as a peasant, set out on horseback with a faithful guide, crossed the mountains and followed impervious paths to reach San Marino”. Alessandro Guiccioli did the same a day and a half after his parents, followed closely by his mother. “We arrived at the foot of the mountain with the cattle (Alessandro said they passed Cesena and Rimini, where they slept). My father met us halfway between the village at the foot of the mountain and the city on the top of Mount Titano.” Alvaro Casali revealed at this time that his father “rented a house that belonged to the elder Bellucci”. The house “is located above a small steep square of triangular shape, which can be called a crossroads; each of the three sides corresponds to a small street. The one to the right of the Bellucci house leads to the gate of San Francesco in the Borgo, the one to the left leads to some cottages and a small church; the one in front leads to Pianella, the small square where the Government Palace is located”. From the house, we read, “you can see part of the so-called Stradone, where you can take a walk in good weather and, if necessary, play football”.
Here, the author focuses on the society of the time. “San Marino was then full of immigrants who took refuge like birds in a storm; many of them were old acquaintances of ours: among the Romans there was Lopez, a colonel of the artillery, a very polite man, with elegant manners and noble feelings. Count Bandini, also a Roman, and Luigi Ripa from Verucchio, a friend of my father’s youth”.
This little square was a bazaar: a meeting place for the immigrants; when the weather was bad, they would retreat to the café, which had a pool table but no permanent lighting, so when the days grew shorter they would even indulge in the luxury of lighting a few tallow candles.
At this point, Garibaldi appeared, “before the French entered Rome, he disdained to surrender and left the city with about four thousand men, throwing himself into Tuscany, hoping to awaken the people”. Garibaldi did not succeed, so during the night of July 30-31, “he arrived in San Marino with his men, now reduced to more than two thousand people: among them were the father and son of Ciceruachio, and the monk Ugo Bassi”. On the morning of July 31, 1849, Alessandro Guiccioli was awakened by the news of Garibaldi’s arrival. “He rode on horseback, together with Anita and others, wearing a red shirt that shone like a sickle in the sunlight. The San Marino authorities discussed with him how to get out of a dangerous situation that put the security of the small republic at great risk”.
The Titanic authorities “became the middleman between Garibaldi and the Austrians, who surrounded the territory on all sides.”
On August 1, 1849, in San Marino, “the remnants of Garibaldi’s army were scattered almost everywhere”. Among them were people of different origins and races, “even many who had followed Garibaldi from Montevideo”. To make a little money to put in their own pockets, “they sold horses and uniforms at very low prices”. For a horse “two or three shields, two or three cauldrons, a cloak or a rifle”. The author then returned to the Guiccioli family, who lived in the mountains until 1850. “The winter was very cold: covered with ice and snow. To prevent slipping, we put strips of cloth on our feet and put papa’s grappling hook on them. At night we needed lanterns because there was no light. Papa bought a house halfway between the village and the city, but he did not live there”, because a warrant for the man’s arrest was pending. Therefore, in May 1850, the Guiccoli family left San Marino and arrived in Venice “on the Chioggiotta ship”.
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