The Soverreign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) is a historic religious order which is often considered a soverreign entity under international law: it maintains diplomatic relations with 113 states, enters into treaties, is an observer of the United Nations and issues its own fully legal passports, coins and… postage stamps.
The postal service of the Order of Malta is called “Poste Magistrali” (Magistral Post). It is actually possible to send ordinary and priority mail from the Magistral Post Office, located at the SMOM headquarters in Rome, Italy, using their specific stamps.
Sending mail is limited to a bunch of countries from the five continents, with which the Order of Malta has concluded bilateral postal agreements.
More information on the official website (ENG).
It could be an idea to introduce the Order of Malta as a new country in the Postcrossing system, with its only location being Rome. I understand that there may be difficulties in its implementation, related to the peculiar nature of this organization. For instance:
- Only outbound postcards from SMOM, no inbound (it is a sort of “state without a territory”). Outbound postcards limited to the countries in the list, to be sent only in travel mode or in “microstates” mode (i.e. the way to send postcards with codes from very little countries that do not allow a wi-fi location verification due to their specific nature);
- No ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code reserved for the Order of Malta;
I also understand that as per now nothing prevents to send a postcard from Poste Magistrali with other codes already present in the system. However, I’m sure that to receive a postcard from this ultra-rare and singular “country” would be a very appreciated delight for the many Postcrossers out here.
