{"id":6437,"date":"2023-01-04T08:10:12","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T08:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/versilia.com\/?p=6437"},"modified":"2023-01-04T08:10:12","modified_gmt":"2023-01-04T08:10:12","slug":"palio-dei-micci","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versilia.com\/en\/palio-dei-micci\/","title":{"rendered":"Palio dei Micci"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Palio dei Micci<\/strong> is a historical-folkloric event organized by the Pro-Loco of Querceta (LU) which takes place in the village and within the Municipal sports field of “Buon Riposo”, in Pozzi in the municipality of Seravezza (LU). ).<\/p>\n

Initially conceived in 1956, on a date close to March 19, the feast of the Patron Saint Joseph (for the first five editions). We then moved on to the second Sunday after Easter; then on the last Sunday of May and then, definitively, on the first Sunday of May.<\/p>\n

The palio consists of a race of eight donkeys (called micci in the local dialect), led by jockeys, each representing one of the eight districts participating in the event.<\/p>\n

The event already begins in the morning, with the parade of the representatives of the eight Contrade among which the respective musical groups and flag-wavers stand out, through the streets of the town of Querceta and with the Sunday Mass in the church of Santa Maria Lauretana. Subsequently, in the central Piazza Matteotti, the traditional blessing of the fuses takes place and the reading of the “calls of challenge” which, half-jokingly, is launched by the eight Contrade.<\/p>\n

In the afternoon, before the race, about 150 people for each district, wearing the clothes of fantasy for a day, such as ladies, knights, armigers and pages, proudly parade their colors on the athletics track of the “Buon Riposo” stadium. At the same time, on the central lawn, about as many people per district give life to choreographic and scenographic re-enactments of facts, real or imaginary, set in the historical period (usually the Early Middle Ages\/Renaissance) from which each individual district is inspired. However, it is not uncommon that other issues are also addressed which, with skilful adaptations, are linked to the aforementioned historical period of reference.<\/p>\n

The main entrance to the municipal stadium staged in 2008
\nThe “Parades” are opened by the winning district of the Palio of the previous edition; the remaining seven, on the other hand, parade according to a drawing order established a few weeks before the event takes place.<\/p>\n

The race, which takes place in the late afternoon, consists of six laps of a track (for a total of approximately 1,800 metres) in a ring circuit created on the stadium lawn.<\/p>\n

The winning district keeps the so-called “Palio”, i.e. a painted banner depicting the “Holy Family” fleeing to Egypt, for a year in its headquarters, thus acquiring both the aforementioned right to open the parades in the following year, and the right to affix one’s own small emblem in fabric on the drape of the “Palio”. The author of the banner of the Palio is Maestro Alfieri Tessa. His are also the first two banners that are no longer up for grabs.<\/p>\n

At the end of the event, prizes are also awarded to the best musical group (Fratelli Meccheri Trophy, established by the “Il Ponte” district in memory of Silvia, Stefano and Francesca, active contrada members who disappeared following a tragic accident while returning home after spending Carnival Sunday in Viareggio in 1982) and the Golden Halberd, an award that goes to the contrada that gets the best score in a “combined ranking” between “historical parade” and “theme”.<\/p>\n

Tradition has it that the winners of the various prizes celebrate with carousels of flagged cars that depart from their headquarters in the district and before returning there touch the territories of the other seven sisters signaling their passage with horns and trumpets.<\/p>\n

History<\/strong>
\nIn 1956 the Pro Querceta Citizens’ Committee, led by Maestro Epaminonda Bertagnini, operationally assisted by Baron Rodolfo Cope and his uncle Paolo Nardini, announced the first edition of the so-called “Palio de’ Micci” in the town. The inhabitants of the plain therefore immediately organized themselves in various “villages” (which became and named “Contrade” only from the following edition).<\/p>\n

In the wake of the immediate success of the event, a song festival called “Miccio Canterino” was conceived and created as early as the following year.<\/p>\n

Born almost as a joke and with tourist purposes as a side dish to the Fair of the patron Saint Joseph (March 19), the first two editions of the “Palio dei Micci” took place in via delle Catene, in a small plot of land used as a soccer field, in Marzocchino, owned by the Parish of Ripa.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, the still small but already popular event moved to the large grassy areas of the so-called “Campo del Cavaliere”, formerly belonging to the ancient villa of “Buon Riposo”. In that same area today stands the municipal stadium called, in fact, the “Buon Riposo”.<\/p>\n

The 1961 edition goes down in history as the year of the “Palio Scovato”: during the course of the event, in fact, a strong and sudden downpour ruined in a few moments what should have been a spring day of celebration but, above all, most of the historical costumes of the Contrade. That edition was thus canceled as no Contrada was able to quickly repair the damage that the rain brought by the “typhoon Trota” had caused to their expensive costumes.<\/p>\n

The 1964 edition, on the other hand, was carried out “timed” on the streets of the center of Querceta. The following year, on the other hand, it took place on the streets of the nearby town of Marzocchino and in 1966 the contrade returned to compete with each other inside the newborn stadium of Pozzi, precisely, of the “Buon Riposo”.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the Palio dei Micci has entered authoritatively into the historical traditions of Tuscany, becoming the most important event of its kind in the Province of Lucca.<\/p>\n

Since then, the parochial spirit and healthy rivalry have led to the organization of various other events. Some of which have had a short life, while others have become part of the tradition and continue to take place regularly every year. In addition to the “Palio” and the “Festival”, they are: the “Running Relay”, the “Flag Games”, the “Football Tournament” and the last born “The election of Miss Palio”. All organized by the Pro-loco of Querceta they have become fixed annual appointments on which the competitive spirit and ardor of the eight districts is measured.<\/p>\n

From 1991 the renowned Versilia event was also joined by the prize for the “Theme” (or Historical Subject) assigned to the best choreographic and scenographic representation that the districts present within the “Campo” at the same time as the respective historical costume parades, each enlivened by own group of musicians and flag-wavers.<\/p>\n

On 25 September 2005, on the occasion of the fiftieth edition of the event, the “Palio dei Palio” was organized and ran: in addition to the eight districts of the Palio dei Micci, some districts representing the Palios of Ferrara also challenged each other in the race, Romano d’Ezzelino , Bereguardo, Cameri, Torrita di Siena, Roccastrada, Orani, Cuccaro Vetere and Perfugas. The race, held on batteries, was won by the young jockey Martina Righi, representative of the Palio of Ferrara, on the back of the “Piccione” miccione.<\/p>\n

In 2020 and 2021, due to the various restrictions that the government had placed in order to contrast the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic, both the Palio and all the other related events were not held.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Palio dei Micci is a historical-folkloric event organized by the Pro-Loco of Querceta (LU) which takes place in the village and within the Municipal sports field of “Buon Riposo”,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6387,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[379],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events"],"yoast_head":"\nPalio dei Micci Versilia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/versilia.com\/en\/palio-dei-micci\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Palio dei Micci Versilia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 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