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Giostra della Quintana
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When:
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13 - 14 Jun 2008 (various dates)
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Where:
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Foligno
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| Opening Hours: |
Procession 9pm
Joust 9pm in Jun, 3pm in Sep
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Giostra della Quintana is a Renaissance joust where ten knights, representing Foligno's districts, compete in a contest of skill and dexterity. Their challenge entails sticking their lances through a small ring hanging from a puppet, symbol of a medieval soldier.
The games are accompanied by historical parades on the day before the tournament itself and general celebrations. On the Sunday before the joust there is a traditional market, displaying all sorts of objects and products for sale, including oil, wine, leather masks and jewels.
The modern-day form of the joust, instituted in 1946, draws its inspiration specifically from a tournament held on 10 February 1613, when several knights challenged each other to a duel, to decide which of two chivalric principles was the most important: loyalty to one's lord or to one's lady. Tournaments had been held in the city from 1448, but as the tradition had all but died out, the organisers chose this particular joust because it had been meticulously described in literature.
The tournament was reinstituted both to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the local Worker's Union and to lighten the spirits of the citizens after the horrific devastations of the Second World War, which had left the town destroyed by bombing raids.
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