HAVE you ever heard of a tiny micronation that lies along the Italian Riviera?
While you might be thinking about countries like San Marino and Vatican City, you’d be wrong.
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Seborga is a tiny micronation set on the Italian Riviera, it has its own flag, stamps, borders, passports, and royal family.
Despite this, Serborga isn’t officially recognised by any other country.
The tiny micronation claims to have been independent for nearly 1,000 years.
Back when Italy was a patchwork of independent states, Seborga was granted independence when the Pope made its owner a prince.
While Seborga’s land was sold in 1719, the micronation’s title wasn’t.
Because of this reason, the Italian village was forgotten about when Italy became unified in the 1800s.
But in the 1960s, local resident Giorgio Carbone discovered that Seborga’s status as a principality never formally ended, and he declared himself Prince Giorgio I of Seborga.
Over the next 40 years, the self-crowned prince developed features like a constitution, money, stamps, and a national holiday in Seborga.
After Prince Giorgio died, the tiny micronation of 320 residents elected Prince Marcello to rule.
Seborga’s current sovereign is Princess Nina who was elected in 2019 following a vote.
In an interview for The World is One News, she said: “I guess every little girl has a dream of being a princess, but I didn’t think I would ever become one.
“I have been working for the previous government behind the scenes but I didn’t think to be in the front.”
The Italian village has its own currency, called the Seborga luigino (SPL), with 1 SPL worth $6 (£4.89).
Seborga also has its own passports (although they’re only used for novelty purposes), as well as decorative license plates.
In recent years, handfuls of holidaymakers have been flocking to the lesser-known Italian town.
In a post on TripAdvisor, one person wrote: “The setting is beautiful and the views of the hills and the Mediterranean will leave you breathless.
“Fascinating old houses and great restaurants too – and we saw no tourists in July!”
While another added: “When you enter the city certainly it feels like you are in a medieval independent principality.
“They have even painted their own borders with false border controls.”
A third person wrote: “It’s like going back in time.”
Seborga is an hour’s drive away from Nice in France, and a two-hour drive from Genoa in Italy.
Holidaymakers who visit Seborga will be welcomed by a multilingual sign, an unmanned sentry post, and a crest painted on the tarmac.
There are several attractions for tourists to visit including Piazza San Martino and the Chiesa Parrocchiale di San Martino Vescovo.
But Seaborg isn’t the only micronation on the globe, there’s another one much closer to home.
Sealand lies 12km east of Suffolk in the North Sea and became a self-declared Principality in the 1960s.
Meanwhile, Eel Pie Island, which is found on the River Thames in Twickenham, can only be visited by tourists twice a year.
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