THE PALIO OF DISTRICTS OF TRENTO

How many times do we say or write our name and wonder where it originates from. It is this natural necessity of Knowledge that has always led us to search for our roots; to discover places, people and important events from our past.

In Calliano on St. Lorenzo day, the 10 th  August 1487, at the end of a battle at the foot of Beseno Castle, the Bishop of Trento together with the joint forces of the Tyrolean Confederation, gained a historical victory against the Serenissima Republic of Venice by preventing them from advancing towards Trento. Roberto de Sanseverino, the captain of the Venetian troops, lost his life in the battle and his body was given an honorary burial in the church near the main altar. In fact there is still testimony of his burial in marble, at the request of Massimiliano, successor to the throne to his father Federico III.

The captain’s armour, although not in one piece, can be found in Vienna. The battle of Calliano is not only remembered in the cenotaph of Massimiliano the Emperor, in the court’s church in Innsbruck and in two paintings, one of wich is conserved in the Buonconsiglio Castle and the other in the curch in Calliano, but also in the Clesiano code in the statutes of Trento and in the St.Lorenzo fair which was established by the Tridentine district and was held in the Domenican convent until 1919. The fair consisted of a parade & other choreographic events along with an archery competition.

This important military event anf the celebrations which followed the victory are the historical roots wich have then been given back to the city in the challenge of “ The Palio of the Trento Districts”. Historical roots which awaken the most profound sense of belonging by taking part in the social life of the district, the Concilio city, the Trentino valley, other Italian cities and the nearby Alpine villages.