This "nation" consisted of a platform on the Adriatic Sea located 11 kilometers off the coast of Italy, near Rimini, just 500 meters inside international waters. The exact coordinates are 44° 10' 48" North and 12° 36' 00" East.
The story began in 1964 when Giorgio Rosa, an Italian engineer, received permission from the Italian government to develop new techniques for the construction of offshore platforms in the Adriatic. He built a 400 square meter platform with a base of nine columns resting on the seabed, using a very novel technique for the time. Once built, a restaurant, discotheque, post office, and other commercial establishments were installed, it is said that it also had a radio station, however its founder denied this fact in a later interview.
On May 1, 1968, the independence of the territory was declared. This act was consolidated with the issuance of its own postage stamps. These stamps read L.T. de la Insulo de la Rozoj, where L.T. is an abbreviation of Libera Teritorio, i.e. the state is designated on its postage stamps as "Free Territory of the Island of Roses".
The Italian government considered this action to be a strategy to evade taxes on tourism revenues. On June 25, 1968, 55 days after the declaration of independence, the Italian authorities (Carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza) took possession of the artificial island. The Island's Governing Council protested the action. By this time the postage stamps of the territory were resealed with the phrase "Milita itala okupado" (Italian military occupation).
On February 13, 1969, the Italian Navy completed the demolition of the artificial island with explosives. Then the "government in exile" produced an issue of postage stamps alluding to the destruction of the island. The stamps bear the inscription "Esperanto Respubliko Insulo Rozoj" (Esperanto Republic of the Island of Roses).
There are at least three theories about the destruction of the micronation by the Italian authorities. First, it was considered that the artificial island with its commercial activity was indeed Italian and was used to avoid paying taxes. The second theory is that a group of right-wing Italian parliamentarians considered the island territory as a threat to NATO security. The third theory is that a group of left-wing Italian parliamentarians suggested that the island was a platform for operations intended to destabilize Yugoslavia and Albania.
