Piazza Grande in Arezzo, Italy. Photo / Getty Images
Italy is famous for its fabulous food, Roman ruins and dreamy landscapes, but there’s also another thing it’s renowned for if you’re a resident, discovers Tiana Templeman
It’s aperitivo hour in the Piazza Grande in the medieval town of Arezzo in Tuscany. Dappled sunlight turns the stone buildings to gold as we sip our wine and take in the classic Italian scenery.
That is until a stallion carrying a man wielding a long wooden lance explodes out of the side street beside us and gallops past our table, so close we can see the sweat glistening on the horse’s flanks and the rider’s concentration as he focuses his laser-sharp gaze on the enemy at the far end of the square.
We’re mesmerised, but the residents barely give them a second glance. The Giostra del Saracino, a biannual jousting tournament that began as a training exercise for knights of old, has been taking place in Arezzo’s town square since the Middle Ages, so this is nothing new. However, that doesn’t mean it’s not important. People jostle for the best tickets when they go on sale and Italians travel from around the country to attend.
Yet it feels like we’re the only international tourists in town.
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We’ve arrived a few weeks early to enjoy the joust’s lead-up events, but quickly discover that while we may have uncovered the ultimate non-tourist activity in Italy, this also means there isn’t much information about the joust available in English. To fill in the gaps, we book a walking tour with local guide Fabrizio Formica, and includes a stop at the jousting museum to learn more about the event and how we can participate in the festivities.
It turns out Fabrizio’s grandfather won the joust in 1938 and he points out the ornate helmets and explains that before the knights had costumes, these were used to differentiate the competing teams. As we walk around town, it feels like we’ve stumbled into a quidditch scene in a Harry Potter movie. The town is divided into four houses with flags flying from the buildings in each district’s team colours, and most of the residents wear supporter’s shirts, ribbons or scarves. We joke with Fabrizio about entering “enemy territory” as we walk from our team’s district to another.
Our Airbnb is in the heart of the Porta Crucifera district, the same one as Fabrizio’s family, and we follow his suggestion to buy badges in our team’s colours to wear in the week leading up to the event. They’re a great conversation starter, even with our limited Italian, and we make friends with everyone from a checkout operator to the local priest during the week. We also have Fabrizio to thank for our perfect aperitivo spot and the tip-off to watch the knights practice.
As the week goes on, we experience the preparations as grandstands are erected, a dirt track stretching from one end of the square to the other is laid and groomed, and knights from each district who have been training all year make the most of their afternoon on the course. On the day, they’ll be aiming for the Buratto, a wooden figure that symbolises the Saracens and spins around when it’s hit, thanks to a powerful spring. In one hand, the Buratto holds a shield divided into 10 blocks with various numbers of points and scores. The other hand wields a cat-o-three-tails whip, each strand tipped with a rubber ball dipped in black powder. If these hit the rider, they will lose points. Each district is passionate about winning the Lancia d’Oro (Lance of Gold).
Even after watching YouTube clips, we didn’t realise the scale of the event, which involves almost 1000 residents, from the hundreds who dress up in ornate costumes passed down through generations for the grand parade to the Musicians of the Saracen Joust who practise their traditional songs in the square at night after they finish work or school. The sound of the brass band drifts up to our Airbnb as we go to sleep listening to the amateur players’ signature tune slowly change from a discordant warble to the rousing anthem that will lead the jousters into the main square.
On the big day, a cannon salute announcing the joust booms from the Medici Fortress just up the road from our Airbnb at 7am, shaking the walls and practically launching us out of bed. We head out after breakfast to get a prime position to watch the parade where rich velvet robes trimmed with gold braid glow in the sun, knights sit proudly on their horses, and the musicians play as they march, with residents wearing elaborate costumes filling the streets behind them. It’s a festive atmosphere, but the riders and their teams all have their “race face” on. This isn’t an event that’s simply held for fun or to entertain the masses – it’s a matter of honour and everyone is there to win.
We’re as excited as the residents, dressed in our race finery and waiting impatiently for the joust to begin. We’ve managed to get tickets in one of the grandstands and arrive early to take in the atmosphere (and the cigarette smoke – there’s a lot of anxious puffing as the tension mounts). When the cannon booms again to announce the start of the joust, the sound ricochets around the ancient stone walls in the square, the crowd roars and band members blowing long, shiny heralds’ trumpets march into the square. They’re followed by the joust’s musicians and flag throwers who toss their brightly coloured flags stamped with the crests of Arezzo’s noble families into the air, tumbling and dancing across the cobblestones before they catch them without missing a beat.
After a bit more pomp and ceremony, the tournament begins and we’re transformed into aspiring jousting experts thanks to the Italians sitting beside us who speak enough English to help us make sense of the complicated scoring system. We cheer as loud as the residents when the horse and rider from Porta Crucifera thunder down the track. There is heartbreak for one knight who isn’t happy with his performance and tries in vain to hide his frustrated tears, but not for us. After the last run of the day, the crowd jumps to its feet cheering and we add up the scores – our team has won.
Little did we know, there was one final Giostra del Saracino experience in store for us – learning the words to the Porta Crucifera victory song. As the raucous and enthusiastic celebrations continued long into the night, we discovered our team’s headquarters were almost right next to our Airbnb.
GETTING THERE
Flights to Rome are available from New Zealand, with the drive or train trip from Rome to Arezzo taking less than three hours. If you’re already in Italy, Arezzo is an hour from Florence by train.
GETTING AROUND
Arezzo is a walkable city, so there is no need for a hire car, although this can be handy for touring the surrounding area, which is filled with castles, historic villages, vineyards and cellar doors.
GIOSTRA DEL SARACINO TIPS
Stay in Arezzo the week before the tournament to watch the events leading up to the joust.
Grandstand tickets go on sale at the jousting museum the week before and are priced from NZ$9 for the rehearsal and NZ$55 for the Giostra del Saracino. It’s worth going to both events.
Arezzo is filled with impressive museums and historic attractions, including the world-famous frescoes at the Basilica of San Francis. The Musei Arezzo Pass is a bargain at NZ$36.
Don’t miss Italy’s largest and oldest antiques fair, which brings more than 500 exhibitors and serious collectors from throughout Europe to Arezzo on the first Sunday of every month.
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