Historical background to Lopar
More than 17 centuries ago a boy by the name Marin was born at Lopar. He later learned the craft of stonemason and in search of a job left his home, crossed the Adriatic Sea and landed at a place near today's Rimini on the Apennine peninsula.
His diligence and virtue soon earned him the sympathy of the Christian community he was living in, so eventually bishop Gaudentium made him his deacon. Presecuted because of his propogation of Christianity, Marin fled to the hardly accessible hill Titan and built a small church there.
It was to become the foundation of a new city and state - San Marino - in which the remains of the saint are still kept.