On Saturday, July 26 at 11 a.m. at the recreational club "La costa di piazza," the book "La Giostra del Saracino di Sarteano - la continuità della tradizione" published by "Edizioni Luì" and produced thanks to the contribution of the Region of Tuscany and the Municipality of Sarteano will be presented.
The editing of the prestigious volume consisting of more than five hundred pages and more than one thousand five hundred illustrations, was supervised by Franco Fabrizi, a well-known local historian and author of various publications, and Graziano Placidi, president of the Sarteano Jousting Historical Preservation Commission. In addition to the authors, the president of the Region of Tuscany Eugenio Giani, the mayor of the Municipality of Sarteano Francesco Landi, the president of the Jousting Association Giancarlo Betti and the honorary president of the Jousting Association Sergio Cappelletti will speak.
"A work that has lasted over five years since Graziano proposed this adventure to me," says Franco Fabrizi. "We wanted to start again from the book on the Joust published in 1983 and then updated in 1993, in which the evolution of the very ancient Feast of San Rocco is recounted, which later gave rise to the Saracen race. Thanks to subsequent discoveries of ancient documents in various historical archives, we have updated and enriched the narrative. In addition to the historical journey of the Joust from its birth to the present day, we wanted to write about the territories of the districts of Sarteano. This part of the book is particularly close to my heart because it dwells on beautiful places sometimes forgotten, of vital importance to the sociocultural heritage of the country. I hope this publication will contribute to their preservation and keep their memory alive. We would like to give special thanks to the President of the Region of Tuscany Eugenio Giani, who with his sensitivity allowed the realization of this project, and to Mayor Francesco Landi, who as soon as he viewed the draft was enthusiastic about it, working in every possible way so that the book would be published."
Graziano Placidi explains "We thought that a text-only volume might have been boring, so the most onerous work was the search for photos and illustrations to include within the story. Here, special thanks go to Dario Pichini who with professionalism made his immense archive available to us, thus making it possible to create a real photo book. Composed of fifteen chapters, in the first five we wanted to talk about what the Joust is and its contrade, dwelling, for the latter, on the lesser known aspects of their territories, continuing then with the historical evolution of the ancient Feast of San Rocco and the Joust itself. The sixth and seventh chapters narrate the golden period of our beloved event, from the reform of 1933 until the suspension of 1962, then moving on to the eighth chapter where the dark period of the suspension is recounted, during which the lively interest of the people of Sarteano never allowed its memory to be erased. The ninth chapter
is the most substantial in that it recounts the many events from the 1982 revival to the present day with the definitive consecration of the Joust in the national panorama of historical reenactments. The last six chapters are devoted to the protagonists, with the roll of honor, the awards for the ensemble, flag-wavers and drummers, the presidents of the Joust who have succeeded each other over time in addition to the cards of the captains and jousters and the final statistics."
"Ours has been a fun and rewarding adventure," the authors conclude, "that could not have been accomplished without the enormous help of the many people who have given us their willingness. The list of thanks would be endless, and so a heartfelt thank you
from the bottom of our hearts goes to all those who have been mentioned in this book, who have been over time an integral part of our Joust and have thus contributed to maintaining its enviable historical continuity."
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