Events to look forward to in our front yard!

Calcio Storico

Testosterone abounds when four teams of 27 youths apiece face each other during the Historic Football, or Calcio Storico, a 15th-century style tournament of fighting and football in Florence's Piazza Santa Croce.
The game itself is said to originate from an ancient Roman ball sport, which became a Florentine speciality in the golden age of the Tuscan capital. Once the sport of princes and noblemen, who used its violence to prove their own skill and strength (for the benefit of the watching damsels), it is now fiercely fought between young men of the four Florentine quarters: San Giovanni, Santa Maria Novella, Santo Spirito and Santa Croce. Clad in medieval garters and pantaloons, players seem more preoccupied with attacking each other than putting the ball anywhere, though the rules of Calcio Storico in themselves are fairly complex. The aim is to seize the ball and put it in the net (which runs the entire width of the pitch) by whatever means available. Precision is everything, as misses and interceptions provide points for the other team. The winners are rewarded with a mass of steaks equivalent in weight to the more traditional prize of a white calf or bistecca fiorentina, which was historically butchered for the occasion. Great entertainment for enthusiastic spectators, but a pitch invasion is probably a bad idea. This event was cancelled last year because it became to violent in 2006. Not sure if I want to see this or not. The bleachers are already set up. Next they will fill the entire piazza with sand. Amazing!!

My pictures to come...