Every Italian city has a patron saint, and the patron saint of Firenze is St. John the Baptist. He was a prophet and also the cousin of Jesus. John was the one who lived in the desert, baptizing in the Jordan River and preaching the coming of Christ (Luke 3:16). So June 24th was a citywide holiday in honor of St. John. (Festa di San Giovanni) The three main events of the day consist of a parade, calcio storico, and fireworks. I was able to be a part of all three!
Parade-
Around 5:00, they conducted a medieval parade from the Piazza della Signoria to Santa Croce. They had men in crazy renaissance-looking clothes, crossbows, flags, and the two teams for calcio storico (Azzurri and Bianchi). Calcio storico is the game played once a year for the festival. Players from the different neighborhoods of Firenze battle for the title. The blue team (Azzurri) is from Santa Croce, and the white team (Bianchi) is from Santo Spirito. As you can see, they look like a pretty rough bunch.
Calcio Storico-
This is the craziest game I have ever seen. Once resembling soccer, this game is closer to rugby, wrestling, and a bar fight. It took place in front of Santa Croce. We sat on the azzurri side. I think I saw someone kick the ball once. Otherwise, they just ran with the ball and tackled each other. Men were pinned down in the mud to keep from playing and we definitely saw some blood. The fans were crazy too. Here are some pictures:
Fuochi di Artificio (Fireworks)-
That night, we went to Fabio’s apartment to watch the fireworks over the river. They lasted for a long time, and got better as the show went on. At the end, they released these beautiful lanterns into the sky. If you look really closely you can see them floating over the city in my picture.
I don't know how they have the battle in front of the church when it is usually just like a stone-floor area, right? It must hurt terribly to be thrown on that groud AND wrestled!
ReplyDelete