Monastic heritage, Ligurian land, digital innovation.
Since 1261 the Principality has carried on an abbatial tradition of state at Seborga and Ventimiglia. Today it works to preserve its heritage, to foster dialogue between peoples and spiritual interaction, and to take its place in the digital age.
Our undertaking is at once historical, religious and legal: it seeks to revive and to give value to the identity of the former abbatial State, re-established in 2019, in absolute respect for the existing constitutional orders and for the sovereignty of the Italian Republic and of the French Republic.
The historical and religious continuity of the Principality rests with Monsignor Giovanni Luca Pietro II, elected 91st sovereign on 29 September 2019 and crowned on 28 December 2019.
The Prince-Abbot
The area outlined in blue is the territory ceded to France in 1860, which today belongs to the French Republic.
An abbatial state of religious monks, the Principality ruled Seborga, Sospel and Ventimiglia from 1261 to 1729, before becoming a protectorate of the Crown of Savoy. Its capital remains Seborga.
The abbatial principality
The Principality is divided into two Priories — Saint John, at Seborga, seat of the capital, and Saint Michael, at Ventimiglia, originally known as the Chaplaincy of Saint Michael. The former territory covered about 110 square kilometres.
The Priories“I sat down in the shade.” Psalm 91.1 of the Holy Scriptures reads: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High rests in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Two equal diagonal bands, light blue and white, bearing the princely arms (Constitution, art. 7).
The Crown, the priories and the seven centuries that shaped the Principality.
The executive, the councils and the texts that govern the life of the State.
The digital cards, the Foundation, the economic chambers and the major projects.
The orders, the ecclesiastical institutions and the societies of Sabourg.
The three approaches below were formally initiated by the Principality in order to have its sovereignty recognised, while respecting the existing constitutional orders and the sovereignty of the Italian Republic and of the French Republic.
The Prince-Abbot has publicly subscribed to the Charter of the United Nations of 26 June 1945 and confirmed full respect for its articles, in order to ask the Secretary-General for the admission of the Principality as a member state.
On 4 November 2020 an official request was addressed to the head of the Italian government. On the basis of article 5 of the Italian Constitution, it seeks special autonomy for the territories of the two Priories.
The Principality invites the heads of government of micro-nations to establish an “Organisation of United Micro-Nations”, in order to foster cooperation between states by uniting their voice.
Making the original territory a place of spiritual interaction, where the religions of the world meet and talk: these are the projects of the Spiritual Agora of Sabourg.
The Spiritual Agora projectsQuantum City, the Digital Foundation, e-Residency and the economic chambers: the Principality is moving into the digital age.
Discover the innovations
