SANGEMINI (Terni)
Giostra dell'Arme (XIV Century)
From the last weekend of September until the second Sunday in October Dedicated to the patron saint, Gemini, the festivities conclude with the Giostra dell’Arme on the second Sunday in October. It consists of a tournament between teams of three knights from each of the two factions of Piazza and Rocca. The trial consists of running a lance, at the gallop, through a ring measuring 5 cm in diameter and then thrusting the lance at a target. The target called 'arme', resembling a noble coat-of-arms, is divided into three sections, of different shapes and colours, which are each worth different scores. The district with the highest score wins the silver palio. Forming a colourful backdrop to the festival are processions inspired from the 14th, century, and, throughout the whole period, craft shops and representations of events from the history of medieval towns, of which the 'giostra' was part, as can be read in the Communal Statutes.
CITTA' DI CASTELLO (Perugia)
Palio dell'Oca (Middle Ages)
1st Sunday in October
A popular version of the ancient chivalrous tournaments of the nobility, the 'Palio dell'Oca' consists of running a lance through a hole in a goose's tub, which is full of water and placed at a height of two metres above the ground, and doing so whilst balanced on a cart racing at full speed. The contest, which has a fat foul as a prize, is preceded by a historical procession and is organised by 'Mattonata', one of the town's ancient districts, which has handed down from generation to generation this traditional festival in veneration of an icon of the Madonna. The aim of the event is the maintenance of popular customs and games, such as the greasy pole and the game of the cooking pots and jugs, which are followed every year by the 'palio:
TREVI (Perugia)
Palio dei Terzieri (13th century)
1st Sunday in October
When in 1214 the citizens of Spoleto destroyed the town of Trevi, the whole community took pat in its reconstruction. This event has inspired the 'Palio dei Terzieri' a contest in which the three districts of Castello, Piano and Matiggia compete wish each other in a race in which they have to push a heavy cart along a route rising 800 metres. The Saturday before, a historical procession in medieval costume proceeds as far as the Piazza del Comune where the 'Capitano del Popolo' (Captain of late People) draws lots to determine the starting order of the race. The winning 'terziere' is the one whose members commit fewest faults and take the least time to cover the route; at that point they ring the bell in the tower on Piazza del Comune, symbolic sign of the reconquest of the town. On the fourth weekend of the month the districts put on 'Scenes from Medieval Life' in the streets and little squares of the ancient town.