Category: Events in Tuscany

Ten days of music, performances, entertainments in Livorno, starts today 31 july, a new edition of “Effetto Venezia”.
The Venezia quarter is charming area, filled with canals, islands,bridges, many from the 17th century designed  for mercantile class.
Shows, theatrical performances and concerts give life to the historical district.
The big event is characterised by voices, lights, sounds and colours of Mediterranean inspiration occurs in narrow streets, courtyards, historical buildings and along small bridges, all making up the oldest but still beating heart of the town; just like Venice, the famous Italian town situated on a lagoon, the Venice district is criss-crossed by canals.
You can find a programme on: www.effettovenezia.it

Lucca can present a no more seductive nor lasting image than a tournament of its Compagnia Balestrieri, its Company of Crossbowmen, dressed in full medieval regalia-bold patterns and colors, brilliant against the white stone facades of one of the city’s venerable piazzas. Accompanied by its retinue of heralds, standard beakers, knights, clerics, city officials, damsels, pages, drummers, trumpeters and flag bearers the Compagnia is a memorable sight  indeed. By ardently plein their ancient skills, these modern-day balestrieri link themselves in our imaginations directly to their military forebears, a group of the city’s earliest defenders, and to a history of gallantry almost a sold as the Comune itself.
Introduction of the balestra, or crossbow, into the written history of Lucca began in 1169, when the Comune di Lucca, finding itself once again at war with its powerful and always uncomfortably close neighbor, Pisa, asked an old ally Genoa for the loan of a company of crossbowmen to assist in the defence of the city.
Use of this potent weapon, perfected by the Genovese for their naval fleet was thus transferred here and soon Lucca’s deadly expertise with the crossbow rivalled any in Italy. During rare interludes of peace in the early 1300’s, Castruccio Castracani degli Antelminelli, lucca’s famous condottiere, encouraged military preparedness in the city by instituting an annual competion with a rich prize a san incentive for maintaining a high level of marksmanship.
Later in that same century, the Comune di Lucca established a permanent contingent of citizen crossbowmen in each of its terziere, San Martino, San Paolino, San Salvatore, the city’s three geopolitical subdivisions wich also mustered its militia.
However, it was not until 1443 that the Consiglio Generale della Repubblica  di Lucca instituted a true Palio or tournament to be held twice annually by the crossbow underwent its final stages of tecnica development, althoughout antiquity. A balestra essentially a bow fixed to a perpendicular frame or stock, but the bow initially made simply of wood or horn, evolved into a hybrid of wood reinforced with laminated strips of horn, bound together with animal tendons and wrapped tightly in a leather covering.
In the end, bows constructed of iron and then steel replaced these more primitivematerials, but the real piece of medieval genius that gave the crossbow its deadly power and supraq-human range was a small crank-operated windlass that mechanically drew the bow string taut to where it could be held in place by a trigger made of wood, bone or metal.
Frecce or arrows (also called darts, quarrels or bolts), had wooden shafts with one  end fitted with twin rows of duck feathers on opposing sides for stability in flight and the other endd tipped with metal points of varriuos shake depending one its use warfare tournament large game hunting or bird hunting.
Of course the advent of black powder weapons ended the reign of the balestra as the “queen of battle” just a sit brought down the era of walled cities and the comunal governments behind them. In 1970, some private citizens of Lucca, motivated solely by their spirit to revive this historic part of the city’s military tradition, formed the Compagnia Balestrieri di Lucca and re-instituted the two annual tournaments under the same rules as set out in the original statutes of 1443. Held ina a major piazza usually at night, the summer tournament in the Palio di san paolino on the 12th of July, the feast day of the patron saint both of the city and of the Archdiocese.
The fall tournament is the Palio di Santa Croce, held some time during the week before the 14th of september, the feast day when all of Lucca pays homepage to the Volto Santo.
Each balestriere seated at a cavallo or wooden shooting platform, has two shots at the target, still called by its traditional name brocca, or pitcher that was used in the Middle Ages, but today a fixed wooden bull’s ye 13 centimetres in diameter, located 36 meters away. The winner is decided by a panel off ive judges. Often callipers must be used to make the final decision!
With a membership of over 500, the Compagnia has found a fitting home on Le Mura ( the Walls) at the Casermetta San Pietro. Use of this 16th century military barracks located near Porta San Jacopo was generously donated by the Comune di Lucca to the Compagnia for its many social activities and for storage of its splendid costumes. Each of the Balestrieri is requie to own his crossbow.
These weapons are designed by senior members of the Compagnia and assembled by other members from metal parts custom made in lcal machine shops, steel bows imported from specialized metal workers in Gubbio or San Sepolcro, and walnut stocks crafted by wood workers here at Lucca.
Other re-enactor organizations in the Province of Lucca-Altopascio’s Cavalieri del Tau, and the Balestrieri di Gallicano join the Compagnia in taking part in many annual civic and religious ceremonies.

For more informations, visit www.compagniabalestrierilucca.it

It’s time again for the Versilia Chamber Music Festival at pieve a Elici (Massarosa, Lucca)!
Last year the two glamorous Russian siblings Kirill Troussov (violin) and Alexandra Troussova (piano) closed the festival. This year they will open it on 5 july, but each date in the programme is a must, not to be missed, as you can see detailed on the back cover.
The Virtuosi Italiani Orchestra will play the Four Seasons of Vivaldi with violinist Cristiano Rossi and flautist Mario Ancillotti on Friday, July 10. This chambre orchestra formed in 1988 is composed of 22 members guided by “konzertmeister” Alberto Martini. They have played in the most important Italian and International theatres and recorded more than 50 CDs. So it’s a great opportunity toh ave them at this festival, and very enjoyable too.

Tickets: 12,00 euro  ( full price) – 9,00 euro (concessions) and 6,00 euro ( for AML members).
For info AML +39 0583 469960
www.associazionemusicalelucchese.it

GALILEO GALILEI.
IMAGES OF THE UNIVERSE FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE TELESCOPE

Galileo’s first celestial discoveries date to exactly 400 years ago, and to mark this fourth centenary the United Nations has declared 2009 the International Year of Astronomy. Florence has decided to pay homage to the human and intellectual epic of one of its most ingenious sons with a lavish and spectacular exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi from 13 March to 30 August 2009: Galileo. Images of the Universe from Antiquity to the telescope.

Florence: Palazzo Strozzi, until 30 august 2009

Exhibition hours:
Daily 9.00 am – 8.00 pm
Thursday 9.00 am – 11.00 pm

INFO
+39 055 2645155

BOOKING
+39 055 2469600 – e.mail: prenotazioni@cscsigma.it – www.galileofirenze.it