Borgo di Cospaia

Just two kilometers from San Giustino is a tiny village with a fascinating history. The little town was an independent city-state from 1441 until 1826. A small swatch of land with a few buildings remained outside the boundaries when Pope Eugenio IV drew them up for the Papal States, and somehow fell beyond the borders of the Republic of Florence, as well. The inhabitants took advantage of the topographical error and declared their independence, and so remained for four centuries - without a written law, leaders, soldiers or taxes.

Miniscule Cospaia measured just 2.5 kilometers by 500 meters, but prospered. They did business with both the Grand Duke and the Church, making a good profit from the tobacco they cultivated, as well as from exiles and contraband. In 1826, the Grand Duke of San Sepolcro and the Pope, perhaps tired of the contraband issue or by Cospaia's providing haven for fugitives, decided the question of the little land by measuring it and dividing it between the two powers.

The Borgo stands as an interesting footnote in central Italy's history.