Former Republic of Cospaia
The former Republic of Cospaia is located only 2km away from San Giustino, a strip of land just 700m wide and 4km long, the result of a mistake in marking the boundaries between the Papal States and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, a sort of no-man’s-land that remained independent from 1440 to 1826. On his territory, the first Italian tobacco was cultivated by abbot Nicolo’ Tornabuoni starting from a seed brought from Spain.
Cospaia had been a tiny independent republic for centuries, located between the Papal States and the Republic of Florence (later Grand Duchy of Tuscany). Surprisingly, it obtained independence in 1441 when Pope Eugene IV, fighting against the Basel Council, gave the territory of Sansepolcro to the Republic of Florence. A mistake in delimiting the boundaries resulted in the failure to include a small strip of land in the treaty, so its inhabitants promptly declared its independence. The mistake arose from the fact that, about 500m from the river that was supposed to mark the borders (simply called “Rio), there was another river bearing the same name. The delegates of the Republic of Florence regarded the Rio located further north as the new boundary. On the other hand, the delegates of the Papal State identified the boundary with the Rio located further south. So, a sort of no-man’s-land was created, declared independent and acknowledged as such in 1484. Cospaia also had its official flag, which is still used on particular occasions. Although its territory merely covered 330 hectares (2km long, 500m wide), the residents took advantage of this situation and were the first to cultivate tobacco in Italy. Some varieties of tobacco still bring the name Cospaia. After several centuries, Cospaia, run by a people’s council, became a mere enclave of smugglers, so on June 26th 1826, through a deed of submission obtained by fourteen of its representatives, it was finally included in the Papal States.