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The
Regatta of the Maritime Republics
Pisa, May/Giune 2006
Since
1956 the cities of Amalfi, Genoa, Venice and Pisa have participated in
the Regatta of the Ancient Maritime Republics.
The
event, introduced for tourist reasons, evokes the past glory of the most
important episodes of the story of the four Maritime Republics.
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The
first official edition took place in Pisa on the 1st July of that same
year. Since then every year the challenge is hosted in turn off the
coast of Amalfi and Genoa, along the river Arno in Pisa and in the
lagoon of Venice.
In
Pisa, along the river Arno, four boats representing the four Republics
and marked by different colours, such as blue (Amalfi), white (Genoa),
red (Pisa) and green (Venice), compete in the regatta, heritage of the
ancient tradition: a two-thousand metre race upstream where they compete
for the winner crossing the finishing line first, close to the Church of
Saint Matthew. This event mixes a genuine sporting passion and the
ancient rivalry dating back to their perpetual struggle for supremacy on
the seas. The boats, having fixed seats with eight oarsmen and a
steersman, were originally built entirely of wood by the Venetian
craftsmen of the Cooperative of Gondoliers of Saint Marc and they were
blessed during the launching by the patriarch of Venice of that time
Angelo Roncalli (who later became Pope John XXIII). Each boat has a
figure-head at the prow: the winged horse represents Amalfi, the winged
dragon for Genoa, the eagle for Pisa and the lion for Venice.
In
recent times the original hulls have been replaced with new ones made of
fibre-glass, which are lighter and faster but which have are almost
identical to the wooden ones of the fifties.
The
hegemony of the green boat with the crew of Venice has been overwhelming
for a long time, but in recent years the other teams of Pisa and Amalfi
have acquired such a good level of competivity as to lay a possible trap
to the record of Venice. |
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The
Regatta is preceded by a great parade of 320 people (80 for each one of
the Republics), which evokes the characteristics, the events and the
characters of the history of these four ancient maritime cities, which
during the Middle Ages ploughing the seas with their fleets prospered
and spread their culture throughout the Mediterranean by means of their
military and commercial dominion.
The
historical costumes of Amalfi portray the most flourishing period of its
commercial trading.
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Genoa
recalls the time of Guglielmo Embriaco, the crusader commander quoted by
Torquato Tasso in “Gerusalemme Liberata”. |
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The
parade of Venice represents the episode of the welcome feast for
Caterina Cornaro, widow of the king of Cyprus and Jerusalem, on her
return to the town after the annexation to the Venetian Republic of that
important Mediterranean island. |
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The parade of Pisa goes back
to the legend of Kinzica de’ Sismondi, the Pisan heroine who according
to the tradition saved the city from an invasion by the Saracens,
because of her realizing during the night of the danger that impended
over the town. The young lady from Pisa rang the bells of the tower of
the Palazzo degli Anziani and gathered only the women, the children and
the old men, because at that time all the militarily strong men were at
sea engaged in the siege of Reggio Calabria. Quickly the alarmed
citizens flew to arms and joined the battle against Musetto and his men. |
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The legend tells that Kinzica, regardless of the danger, incited her
fellow citizens to withstand the hard battle until the Muslims were
defeated and none of them was able to escape by sea.
Written
by Ufficio Turismo Comune di Pisa
Translation
by Maria Vanzini
Photographs
by Renato Sandrini
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