Sacred Procession of the Corpus Domini

San Giustino boasts among its fractions a unique case in Italy: the Republic of Cospaia. The story tells of a tiny strip of land in which the inhabitants who lived there managed to gain freedom not through violent fights or bloody battles, not for bloody coups or shady palace intrigues, but more simply because of a trivial topographic oversight. In fact, in 1441, due to an error in tracing the boundaries between the State of the Church and the Florentine Republic, Cospaia remained without government and became a sort of free port for the smuggling operation until 1826 was suppressed and the territory was almost entirely incorporated into the Papal State. The inhabitants of the small republic had the foresight to immediately proclaim themselves independent and remained so for almost four centuries. Without written laws, without leaders, without soldiers and without duties, they did excellent business both with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and with the Church, distinguishing themselves above all in the cultivation of tobacco, elsewhere forbidden. So it was that Cospaia, by virtue of the autonomy it enjoyed, was one of the first Italian districts to undertake the cultivation, handling and sale to the neighboring states of tobacco. In a short time, the Republic of Cospaia became the real "Tobacco Capital", a place where freedom was taken as the maximum value by the inhabitants, so much so that on the architrave of the small church we still find what can be considered the motto that for centuries has guided the population: "Perpetua et firma libertas". The third weekend of June takes place. Third weekend in June.