Florentine football: little for the war, but cruel for the game

Florence is not only the world capital of art, birthplace of the great Dante and the Italian literary language. This is a city where today citizens play in one of the most brutal sports. Florentine Calcio or just foams – the prototype of modern football and Rugby, that's just the main thing in it not the skills with the ball and ability to swing fists.

(Caution! The material presented in the series may seem unpleasant or intimidating)

The first treatises mentioning the Florentine Calcio date back to the XIV century. Strong men were popes Clement VII, Clement VIII, and Leo XI. The roots of Calcio go back to the days of the Roman Empire. Part of the training of the Legionnaires was the game called "Harpastum l", which translates as "to pull with strength". In those ancient times, soldiers were divided into teams and rushed for a small ball.

Nowadays the descendants of those Legionnaires annually from 16 to 24 June, repeated game ancestors. It begins with a costume parade, which runs through the centre of Florence. Its soldiers exhibit four historic quarter of the city, each of which has its own color. Santa Croce in blue, Santa Maria Novella in red, San Spirito and San Giovanni in green.

The participants of the costume parade walk through Florence

The game takes place in the town square of Santa Croce, where a sandy Playground with a size of 50 to 100 meters. Two teams of 27 men each, for 50 minutes trying in any way to cast over the edge of the guard the opponent's ball. The game itself is more like not a sporting event, and a medieval battle. Before the "battle of teams traditionally line up in order of battle. Fifteen people play in the offensive insures five Midfielders. For the defense of the rear meets three defenders and four assistants.

Platform game in Piazza Santa Croce

Players are allowed to fight and fisticuffs. You can attack not only the person with the ball, but any member of the opposing team. As a result, the game turns into a massacre, and only in recent years, the platform has allowed to allow doctors who provide assistance directly in the field without stopping the game.

If you remember other competitions brutal men, ready history goes back centuries, it is worth to mention Turkish oil wrestling of kirkpinar. In it converge on the field the big men, twisting each other's balls and sticking fingers in the ass. No, this is not a joke or a figure of speech — do they really use such techniques during the battle.