In 1967, Italian engineer Giorgio Rosa funded the construction of a 400-square-metre (4,300 sq ft) platform, which he called in Esperanto “Insulo de la Rozoj”, the island of the roses. The island was built 11km from the Italian coast and therefore it was out of the national waters and was declared a “free state”. The micro-nation close to Rimini provoked a lot of rumors - a sought after place for all kind of projections- primarily it was though one: an Utopia: After 80 days the island got occupied by the Italian forces and bombarded.