Summer in Tuscany is a truly glorious season, even if sometimes it gets really hot and muggy. If you're lucky enough to be in this neck of the woods, you'll be spoilt for choice between many fairs, events that are sometimes quite quirky. Last year we talked to you about the Gioco del Ponte, the reverse tug of war on one of Pisa's most famous bridges, an event so unusual that baffles foreigners since the Middle Ages. Up the Arno, the main rival of the city of the Leaning Tower had plenty of particular events, but no one is as crazy as the tournament that dominates one of its most beautiful squares at the end of June. This very ancient version of football is, frankly, an acquired taste. What makes it weird? Well, let's start by saying that literal fighting on the pitch is pretty much ignored by the referees. Despite being so brutal, Florentines adore it, so much that it's almost integral to the city identity. That is why this week What's Up Tuscany will bring you back to Florence to tell you everything there is to know about the wonderfully bonkers "calcio storico". If you listen to the full episode, you will learn how the origins of this game are quite unclear, possibly dating back to the Roman Empire and how, especially in the Renaissance, Fiorentini loved it so much that it was played in almost every street. It wasn't just regular people: heirs of the most powerful families, like the Medici, played in Piazza Santa Croce. It took a long siege and a crazy act of defiance to consolidate its place in the heart of every Florentine. After being banned for a couple centuries, since 1930 the tournament is held every year following the rules written back in 1580 by a famous scholar. In the final parts I will explain to you the not so crazy rules of this game and try to convey what makes it so close to the hearts of many Tuscans. It is not to everyone's taste, many people find it abhorrent, brutal, unnecessarily violent but by looking at how the players and fans get so crazy that you can have a look into the real soul of this land. It may be bonkers, but it's much more genuine than many others events that seem catered only to tourists. Email: [email protected] Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/larno.it Twitter: @arno_it / @WhatsupTuscany LINKS TO SOURCES (ITALIAN ONLY) https://sportgang.it/calcio-storico-fiorentino/ https://www.vanityfair.it/sport/altri-sport/2017/07/09/calcio-storico-fiorentino-rispetto-polizia-campo-zena https://www.intersport.it/get-inspired/calcio-storico-fiorentino-storia-regole BACKGROUND MUSIC Pipe Choir - Bom Bom Breakthrough (Instrumental) Everous & Canonblade - Gleam Catmosphere - Candy-Coloured Sky Render - Prism Pipe Choir - Gemini (Instrumental) Wayne John Bradley - Blues Rock Original Instrumental All released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License https://soundcloud.com/pipe-choir-2/pipe-choir-bom-bom-breakthrough-creative-commons-instrumental https://soundcloud.com/argofox/catmosphere-candy-coloured-sky https://soundcloud.com/argofox/render-prism https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Pipe_Choir/SGONS_Instrumentals/Pipe_Gemini_Instrumental https://soundcloud.com/ayneohnradley/blues-rock-original-instrumentalcreative-commons http://www.pipechoir.com/