We have lots of pictures to share with all of our readers – from Monteriggioni to Filetto to Montepulciano!

Here is the first set: the Monteriggioni Medieval festival that takes place over two long weekends in July. The festival is perfect for families since there is entertainment and games for children as well as chance to dress up as knights or ladies. Then there are jugglers, puppet shows, minstrels, music, small farm animals which can be petted and more!

The main event is the re-enactment over the first weekend of the siege of Monteriggioni by Florence which took place in the 13th century and of a battle/betrayal of Monteriggioni to the Florentines that took place 300 years later on the following weekend. Here are some of shots to show the fun you can join in next year!

For those interested in learning more about the walled medieval town of Monteriggioni – http://www.monteriggioniturismo.it/

If you also find yourself in Lunigiana between the 11th and 15th of August, make
your way to the Medieval fair in Filetto!

The area of Lunigiana has so much to offer, as we had ourselves discovered a year ago when we
first started exploring this area staying a few days in the countryside near Aulla.

At that time we visited the small charming village of Filetto, easy to reach near Villafranca in
Lunigiana. We discovered only afterward that a medieval fair is held every year in the small
medieval center, the “first and largest in Lunigiana”… and anyone who has read our past posts,
we particularly love to attend these events.

Checking out the program on the official website www.mercatomedievalefiletto.it we
are excited to see that there are many attractions and entertainment planned… so the fair looks
very promising!

In particular, everyday at 20.30 you can enjoy a special dinner with medieval dishes prepared for the festival. The dinner is a fixed menu at 38 euros per person, you have to reserve ahead by phone by calling either 320.020.8059 or 347.076.4935. The menu looks very interesting, definitely merits to be tried out!

We contacted the fair organizers to request a few more details and they’ve underlined the wish
to have all participants dressed in medieval clothes. We see that as an excellent sign of passion
toward the organization of the event. It is not strictly required, but we will try our best to fit in as well in our medieval clothes – we’ll let’ you know how it turns out!

Hope to see you there!

The first edition of the Renaissance Fair at Colle Val d’Elsa! Our impressions

Anyone who has read our blog for a while probably has already understood we love to go to medieval festivals and that we often return to the ones held in Monteriggioni, Volterra and Roccatederighi in Tuscany. When we found out there would be a similar festival in Colle Val d’Elsa this year, right away we marked it on our calendars. This past Sunday, July 3, the entire Discover Tuscany made their way to Colle to go to “The Renaissance of Colle between 1479 and 1592”.

The dates the event’s official title refers to are important for Colle: the first marks the year Florence conceeded Colle citizenship in exchange for their fedelty against the Sienese enemy (1479) and the other was when Colle was proclaimed a diocese, marking it a city to all effects (1592).

Colle is a very charming town and the festival/historical reenactment is definitely a perfect occasion to get to know all its corners and narrow streets as you explore.

We were greeted by the blast of a cannon as we arrived to the entrance to the castle located in “Colle Alta” where the festival was taking place. As a practical side note, you should know that Colle’s historical center is at the top of the hill where the castle is located; with limited space, the town in modern times has continued to grow in the plain below the castle.
As soon as entered through the walls, the streets were full of life with many people in period costumes attending to the various stands showcasing medieval/Renaissance crafts. We soon met up with a group of satires walking on stilts among the crowd, as well as Metenio Atrippa with his curious camel beast and other interesting characters that were entertaining the public. We quickly reached the main square where La Giostra had just started playing their lively music on the stage: it was difficult to not tap your foot or feet to the beat of the music!

In this main square various groups entertained the crowds continuously, many of the best we’ve seen at various medieval festivals. All were presented by the fantastic Giullar Cortese, who improvises in rhyme as he pokes fun and interacts with the public. We were happy to watch the Giullari del Diavolo once again perform their magic on the crowd with their entertaining and impressive show. The theatrical piece by the Zorba Officine Creative in the evening was a bit difficult to understand. We also saw the Errabundi Musici performing both on stage as well as on the streets, their bagpipes and drums were definitely better enjoyed along the streets as background music to the general festivities.

Even if this was just the first edition for the festival, which was smaller compared to some of the better known ones, the quality of the performers and of the various attractions, crafts, and general feel was high and we were very pleasantly impressed. Perhaps the only part that requires some work is the offer of street “medieval” food and drinks which are often set up alongside the crafts. Here we only found it in the main square so future editions could offer a few more options and stands throughout the castle’s streets.

After the dinner hour the festival was in full swing, the castle was full of people including young adults that started dancing in the square. We were right along with them, enjoying and dancing along to the music performed by La Giostra until midnight! We look forward to going back to this summer festival next year and if you’re here then, we’ll keep our calendar updated with the precise dates to head to Colle di Val d’Elsa!

The beautiful town of Colle Val d ‘Elsa situated between Florence and Siena is completing the final preparations to take you back in time this upcoming weekend.

On Saturday and Sunday July 2 and 3, 2011 the medieval village will host “The Renaissance of Colle – History, Festivals and Battles between 1479 and 1592”.

During the two days, starting at 5pm up until midnight all streets, squares, shops and public places in Colle Val d ‘Elsa will become the setting for the celebration of the Renaissance, one of the city’s most important historical periods.

It will be an unique opportunity to see Colle Val d’ Elsa come alive with characters in Renaissance dress, skillful jugglers, fabulous musicians, street performers and actors entertaining and engaging the public from later afternoon until midnight.

Throughout the weekend the jester Il Giullar Cortese will entertain you with his improvisations in rhyme, while the jugglers I Giullari del Diavolo and the shows of Zorba Officine Creative will recreate the atmosphere of long ago markets and fairs. On Sunday the Errabundi Musici group will play their medieval music and take you back in time.

Definitely do not miss the performances of the Compagnia La Giostra, a small but amazing group that will thrill you with its lively music and fun parodies.

There is much more: presentations of traditional crafts from the period, taverns and banquets serving both drinks and dishes from the era to allow you to rediscover ancient flavors, then markets and re-enactments of historical battles.

The “Renaissance of Colle” will entertain everyone of all ages, children in particular can participate in several hands-on workshops dedicated only to youngest.

During the festival the Archaeological Museum, the Diocesan Museum, the Cathedral and the Crypt of Mercy and other churches located in Colle Val d’ Elsa’s historical center will remain open to visitors with longer opening times.

Admission fee: € 9 full ticket, € 6 reduced, free entrance for children under 12 years. More details on the festival can be found on the official website.

Are you ready to go step back in time? We’re headed to Colle Val D ‘Elsa this coming up weekend so see you there!

If you’re still looking for ideas of what to do this weekend in Tuscany, another major event taking place this Saturday is the Giostra del Saracino, or Joust of the Saracen (Moor) in Arezzo.

The whole city turns up in medieval costume to recreate the atmosphere of medieval Arezzo as the quarters of the city compete against each other in a joust to win the Golden Lance. The event has its origins in the Middle Ages and was an evolution of a military training exercise knights used to simulate battle, using a lance to hit a “puppet” of the bad guy, at the time of the Crusades the bad guy being the Saracens or Moors.

In Medieval society, jousts and tournaments were the means to celebrate any special event and in Arezzo records indicate this particular one was very popular and repeated on special occasions. The tradition of the joust has appeared and disappeared throughout the centuries but has been been occuring twice annually since 1931 (excluding the years of WWII). You can take part in this ancient tradition in Arezzo this Saturday – but if you’re not in the area, don’t despair, the event also takes place on the first Sunday in September!

For tickets for the seated bleachers, call 0575/377460/2/3 or go to Arezzo and see if you can still buy standing spots in the main Piazza Grande. Read more details on the Joust on our recent post.

Photo by ho visto nina volare

Still wondering what to do this weekend in Tuscany? We love medieval festivals and really look forward to heading to San Gimignano this weekend. Famous for its tall medieval towers that create a unique skyline, this weekend San Gimignano will be celebrating the “Ferie delle Messi“, a fertility festival and pageant that dates back to 1255. Street music, theater, markets and a historical costume parade and jousting take you back to Medieval times in the village.

The “Ferie delle Messi” festival was established in the statutes of the comune of San Gimignano from 1255 to 1314, and was celebrated by the whole population – divided into its four districts of San Giovanni, San Matteo, Castello, and Piazza – with dancing, singing, games, and jousting, all with the aim of encouraging a good harvest.

The event takes place on both Saturday and Sunday, the highlight on Sunday being the Grand Procession where around 300 costumed locals, on foot or on horseback, parade in a stream of color along the ancient streets of the historic center to the Rocca di Montestaffoli, where they attend the “Giostra dei Bastoni”.

The jousting tournament is fought by four knights, one from each district. The victor and his district are awarded the prize of a golden sword, symbolising wealth and fertility.

Look forward to celebrating fertility this weekend, will you be joining us?

A year is passed and June has come. On the third Saturday of June there will take place a great medieval festival, very famous in Italy: La Giostra del Saracino or the Saracen Joust of Arezzo.

The Saracen Joust takes places twice per year (June and September) in Piazza Grande, beautiful square in Arezzo. This year it’s on June 19th at 9.30 pm. But the festival starts on Friday 11th when Captains take the inaugural oath and the draw of sequence of carriere (charges). Every day from Saturday to Tuesday there are the heats around 7.30 pm.

The Joust animates Arezzo for one week. In the tournament the 8 jousters or knights of the 4 Quarters of Arezzo (Porta del Foro, S. Andrea, Porta Santo Spirito and Porta Crucifera) fight each other to win the golden lance. Every jouster gallops his horse with wooden lance against the Buratto and its shield. The Burattto is an armor-plated dummy holding a shield that is divided into sectors corresponding to points. The jouster has two runs along the lizza (jousting track) that runs obliquely in Piazza Grande. The Joust is won by the Quarter whose jousters obtained more points. The price is a golden lance.

The day of the Joust starts at 7.00 am with the first mortar shot and at 11.00 am the second one announces the parade of the colorful procession with over 300 costume characters. At 7.30 pm there is the blessing of the jousters and then the parade goes from the Duomo to Piazza Grande. At 9.30 pm, just before the start of the tournament, there is the flag-wavers performance.

The Saracen Joust is certainly a beautiful medieval festival, whose origins date back to 16th century, that animates Arezzo every year with colors, sounds and flavors coming directly from the Middle Ages.

Sunday morning we took off to Volterra to once again travel back in time to the Middle Ages. Volterra is the perfect setting with its medieval architecture and since the whole city is involved in one way or another, the festival has been a favorite of ours since we discovered it.

This year, as soon as we arrived into town, we were surprised to be stopped along the road and asked for 4 euros for parking – anywhere we could find it around the city! Seems the town organized to further collect funds for parking in addition to the entrance fee. Last year, we had parked on a road on the outskirts of town since we had found no parking elsewhere and not paid at all. This time it didn’t matter how far you were, if you entered city limits you had to pay.

As we entered the city, the beat of drums in the distance guided us in the direction of the fair. We soon found out that the festival had been drastically reduced this year, most likely due to budget cuts. Last year, the fair extended over the entire park called E. Fiumi right next to the Medici Fortress and onto the San Pietro park to the north of the Porta a Selci; this year the entire fair was in the San Pietro park area which is pretty small. We dutifully paid our 9 euros each for entrance, got a stamp on the inside of our wrists to make coming and out a breeze and entered into the magical area of time travel.

The village had areas that showed the main crafts of times past – men cleaning wool and spooling yarn, a woman working a loom to make cloth. The carpenters were busy cutting and nailing, the blacksmith heating and shaping a sword. Taverns were busy serving wine, bread and roasted meats while a small pork roasted on a nearby spit. Children played on a nearby small merry-go-round with wooden horses. Mendicants wandered among the people, priests passed by. Musical groups and jugglers offered entertainment in the middle of the summer heat. The medieval village was alive and busy.

We had a pretty good meal at one of the taverne and then spent some time wandering around and watching the demonstrations of sword play, the minstrels, jugglers and fire eaters entertain the public and the flag throwers demonstrate their skill at twirling, tossing and catching their flags in formation. As the flag throwers were finishing their performance, the sky started to darken. Unfortunately, the thunderstorm that arrived over Volterra was not short and it flooded some areas of the park. The fair was unexpectedly interrupted (weather forecasts had not predicted any chance of thunderstorms in that area!)

Some artists hung around to entertain the remaining public a few hours later but unfortunately the greater part of the fair and its atmosphere were ruined by the weather…. oh well!

Let’s hope we get luckier on our next outing, wherever we might be this coming up weekend. The “Bravio delle Botti” is this Sunday in Montepulciano, we’re thinking about heading that way… will we see any of our blog readers there?

Last Saturday we went back to Roccatederighi to attend the “Festa del Borgo”, the medieval fair held every year in this nice village in the Tuscan Maremma. We were positively impressed: we write about it in more detail on our brand new blog Medieval Festivals.

Since we wanted to take our time in seeing the many attractions of the Medieval Fair and visit the nearby Castle of Sassoforte, we decided to sleep in the area for one night. We slept at a nice bed and breakfast near Sassofortino called Podere Usignolo. The owners, Martin and Barbara, are really nice and have created a beautiful place from which one can enjoy the hills of Maremma! We definitely recommend it even for a long, relaxing stay in the Tuscan countryside.

Read more about the Roccatederighi Medieval Fair »

Joust Tournament

We spent this last weekend around Monteriggioni since its medieval fair has become one of our favorite summer events. We took advantage to visit the area as well, visiting Colle Val d’Elsa and we’ll soon post about what we saw there.

“Monteriggioni di Torri si Corona” or “Monteriggioni Crowned by Towers” (the phrase comes from Dante Alighieri) is a medieval fair that takes place over two long weekends every July in this beautiful castle near Siena. The castle, very well conserved, is a pleasure to visit and ideal setting for recreating past eras.

It is easy to go back to the Middle Ages when surrounded by the large defensive walls and giant towers, walking amidst knights in armor, minstrels, musicians and tables set up to illustrate medieval crafts. A step back to medieval times is always fascinating, not least because it offers the possibility of being centuries away from our responsibilities of daily life especially once we turn off our cell phones .

This year we even decided to go for two days in a row, on Friday and Saturday July 10 and 11 in order to enjoy the various attractions. Friday was definitely the better day since there were less people and even the entrance ticket cost a little bit less (8 euros instead of 10). Saturday is likely the most popular day to go on but the small castle has trouble containing the amount of people who come for the fair.

Giullari del Diavolo

We had a lot of fun. Entertainment was provided by several groups of comedians and musicians, many of which we’ve seen perform on other similar fairs. The Giullari del Diavolo and their show, in particular is great and always makes us laugh. It was a disappointment to see them only on Friday and not on Saturday. La Giostra, a groups of minstrels/musicians from Sicily provided musical entertainment. Their parodies and ballads captured every public, from the families with small children in the late afternoon to the young adults late at night. There were many others including the minstrel presentators Messer Lurinetto and Giullar Cortese which always speak in rhyme or Metenio Atrippa and his camel, present at all of the most popular medieval fairs.
We weren’t very impressed with the Zorba Officine Creative who, despite their tumbling and balancing stunts aside, performed a parody of Shakespeare Othello that was a bit on the heavy side… :-/

In the field below the castle a military encampment was set up. Here we saw several tournaments including the joust of the Saracen, the joust of the ring and duels with lances. The presentation was very well executed as the knights made an impressive image in their armor astride their mounts. In practice, though, their performance in the jousts was a bit weak – it might have been the heat but it seemed they were merely presenting the practice and not actually participating in the games

Medieval Blacksmith

We would also add that this year, compared to the last two times we went, we had the impression that the fair was downsized. There were fewer stalls demonstrating medieval trades, less choices in the “medieval” dishes (there was a well-appreciated stall by the famous Nannini pastry shop from Siena); in general, a bit less attractions along the narrow streets of Monteriggioni. The influx of vistors in any case certainly rewarded the fair’s organizers.

Disappointed to say we did not have the chance time-wise to organize ourselves and dress up in medieval costumes… but we did buy nice leather belts and a leather waist pouch from one of the craft stalls – from a lady from Treviso that has specialized in hand-making medieval looking leather accessories – and we will likely be ready in time for our next “medieval” fair (Roccatederighi or maybe Volterra)!

Soldier near tower on walls surrounding Monteriggioni