Cultural Italy - Jousting of the Saracens

With a long and rich history, Italy has so much to see and explore, but there is no more fun way to see history than see it re-enacted by enthusiastic locals. This event in Arezzo, Tuscany is the modern version of an event that has been around for centuries and is definitely worth checking out if you are in the area.

Jousting of the Saracens, is one of the most popular events is the Arezzo area. This is an annual jousting tournament where the men-folk of the local area, get kitted out in armour, mount up and joust in the hope of winning the coveted prize of the Golden Lance. In 2008, this festival will be taking place on Saturday June 1st and there is another later on in September.

The whole town goes all out for this event with flag-bearers, trumpeters and people in medieval costume filling the streets. The origin of the festival are shrouded in mystery but it is known that there were tournaments held as far back as 1260! In more recent times, instead of jousting one another, the target has become to hit the shield held by a rotating puppet called the Saracen, so easy feat.

To learn about other events in Italy you might enjoy reading one of our other car rental Italy blogs, don’t forget that the best way to see Italy is by car rental. Italy is an excellent country to explore for it contains history, culture and some of the finest weather on the continent, so why not check out our car rental Italy options and give Nova a go.

How to get there: Arezzo is located in nearly the exact middle of Italy. It is only 75kms southeast of Florence and about 200kms north of Rome. The city is located just off the A1 which runs between Florence and Rome, so if you are travelling between these two cities you could possible drop in and take a look around. If you aren’t around during the festival, then you could always make a visit to the local churches that feature frescoes of 12th-century crusaders.

If you have been to this festival yourself why not leave some hints for our other visitors to the area below?

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