WHERE IN THE world would you find a country like SMOM, which is more than 930 years old, has a population of 80, has an air force of 50 aircraft and has, as its biggest tourist attraction, a keyhole? The answer is central Rome, a short stroll from the Spanish Steps at Via Condotti 68.
Tourists rarely hear about SMOM (the official abbreviation for Sovrano Internazionale Militare Ordine di Malta, better known as the Sovereign Order of Malta), otherwise some of them would not miss a chance to get their passports stamped by the tiniest mini-state of all. SMOM issues its own passports and car number plates, mints its own money, in the form of gold and silver coins, and prints postage stamps.
A tourist crossing the border to SMOM's extraterritorial soil is confronted with a medieval courtyard full of cars, many with the SMOM number plate, red letters on white. At the far end is a gargoyle dribbling water into a pool of goldfish, above which is a red-and-white Maltese cross. Embracing the yard is a four-story palace, which houses the private apartments of SMOM bigwigs, legations and a hospital. Confusion persists over whether the order's headquarters is a country or an organisation, but it's a permanent observer at the UN.
On top of Rome's historic Aventino Hill, SMOM owns a villa that is closed to visitors. But if you peek through the keyhole in the door of the high-walled garden, you can see the entire dome of
St Peter's Basilica perfectly framed in the distance.
SMOM officials are inordinately proud of that keyhole, known affectionately by Romans as the "hole of Rome", as it is the only keyhole in the world through which you can simultaneously view three countries - Italy, Vatican City and SMOM - with kaleidoscope charm.
Do you know any hidden gems? E-mail us at go@irish-times.ie