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The Palio of Pisa



The Luminara di San Ranieri, with the myriad of lampanini decorating the façades of the Pisan churches, palaces, towers and villas along the lungarni, has already been described in the previous chapter of this tourist guide.
Now... it is time to talk about the Palio!

Every year, on June 17th, four boats representing the historic districts the town is divided into (blue for Santa Maria, yellow for San Francesco, red for San Martino and green for Sant`Antonio) crewed with eight oarsmen, a cox and a "climber", vie with each other on the Arno.

The Palio of Pisa is not simply a regatta: at the finish line, a 10-metre tall mast stands on a floating platform; the climbers have to climb the mast with the help of some ropes and grab the banner bearing the colours of their district.

The origins of the Palio date back to 1292, when a similar contest was held on August 15th, Assumption Day. Since 1718, however, the Palio of Pisa has been taking place on San Ranieri`s day. The contest takes its cue from the expedition of the Christian fleet at the battle of Lepanto (1571).

Being fixed feasts, the Palio and the Luminara di San Ranieri do not always occur at weekend; on the contrary, they often occur during the week. We therefore suggest you to rent a holiday villa in Pisa for some days, so that you will not miss any of the two events.

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