The Beauty and Brutality of Calcio Storico Fiorentino

The exhilarating game of Calcio Storico Fiorentino brings the city together
The exhilarating game of Calcio Storico Fiorentino brings the city together | © Alessandro Iovino / Culture Trip
Mary Gray

Florence’s native sport, Calcio Storico Fiorentino (Florentine Historic Football), is far more than an excuse to get rowdy; it’s an expression of local pride. Culture Trip speaks to the players behind this unique game to discover the true meaning of the sport.

In June, one of the city’s squares is transformed into a stadium, as these home-grown athletes take to the pitch

Walk through Florence’s piazza Santa Croce at most times of the year and you’ll find telltale signs of a tourist city: shops and restaurants spinning out from a central monument, pigeons trailing weary travellers, and, when the holidays roll around, mulled wine and market stalls. But in June, as the pitch for the city’s most dangerous game is set up, everything else fades into the background as Florentines prepare for impending battle.

Calcio Storico Fiorentino is a custom honoured all over the city

Calcio Storico Fiorentino is a combination of rugby, football and rough-and-tumble. Renaissance-costumed savagery is played out among Florence’s four historic neighbourhoods over a series of early summer matches, culminating in a final game on June 24, feast day of Florence’s patron saint John the Baptist. Local lore tends to trace its origins to vaguely defined “remote times” when, according to Luciano Artusi and Anita Valentini, authors of Festività Fiorentine (Florentine Celebrations) [2003], residents both noble and not-so-much “played football in the streets during work breaks and neighbourhood festivities; [the rich] competed in particularly sumptuous and presentation-oriented matches.”

Locals don traditional costumes for celebrations honouring the winning teams

But the best-known early game took place in 1530, during the Spanish siege of Florence. That tidy Florence-versus-outsider origin story has cemented Calcio Storico’s reputation as a celebration of local identity. Today, the game takes place in the piazza Santa Croce, anchored by the namesake Franciscan basilica, burial site of such legends as Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and Rossini. Given its grade-A list of luminaries, the church has been nicknamed the “Temple of the Italian Glories” – to say nothing of the gladiator-like local idols who occupy the square outside it each June.

The game is tough on the athletes, leaving many bruised, bloodied and exhausted once the game is over
Florentine residents come out in their droves to witness the games – many have been coming all their lives

Born with team spirit

Said idols are spread across four teams, each tied to a traditional district in the historic centre. Team affiliations are more based in philosophy than physical addresses these days, as fewer and fewer Florentines call their historic centre home. Colour-coded and fiercely competitive, the teams are the Azzurri (Blues) of Santa Croce, the Bianchi (Whites) of Santo Spirito, the Rossi (Reds) of Santa Maria Novella and the Verdi (Greens) of San Giovanni.

Players are fervently loyal to their teams, though many no longer live in the historic centre
Becoming a Calcio Storico player requires dedication, mental strength and physical power

For many players, aspirations to join a team start early. Luigi Ferraro, a former Serie A Italian rugby player and a ball-carrier for the Azzurri, made his Santa Croce debut at age 18, but says, “I was training with the Azzurri from age 14 or so. I always wanted to be part of this grand Florentine party.”

Riccardo Lo Bue of the Rossi, another tattooed, hulking he-man (and Calcio Storico has a lot of them), echoes Ferraro, alluding to a kind of inevitability in his playing. “I was basically born into Calcio Storico,” he says. “When I was little, my friends would hang out in the area where the Rossi trained, and there was a café-bar nearby where they’d go, so I grew up fascinated by the whole thing.”

Young players who can’t yet join the official teams often march, in supporting colours, in a parade before the starting match

Athletes like Ferraro and Lo Bue are all unpaid glory-seekers with day jobs, family lives and, often, some level of neighbourhood notoriety. Training and team devotion are taken seriously not despite, but because of the game’s non-professional yet proud nature. Calcio Storico indeed asks its most ardent participants to shape their identities around it. Some take the shaping part rather literally: Lo Bue, who began his Calcio Fiorentino career as a 70kg (154lb) goalie, but longed to be more in the thick of the action, says, “[I] built my body over years of intense training to get there.”

The games whip the crowd into a frenzy, with supporters cheering for their favoured teams and players

Playing by the rules (or not)

To a non-Florentine, the game may not make sense. But there are strict rules in place, and strategy has become more obvious to observant spectators since authorities cracked down on excessive violence after numerous hospitalisations. Still, no one would call Calcio Storico sedate.

The game can be violent, but stepping into the arena is a risk many are not only willing but eager to take

Two teams of 27 players – often unannounced until match day – take to the sand-covered field for 50-minute matches. Goal posts are set at opposing ends of two even squares and players must get the ball, which is launched into the field from the centre line, over the opposing team’s net “by any means necessary”. Use of hands, feet and fighting are all fair game – hence the mouth guards and bloodied fingers – but groups ganging up on individual players is prohibited.

Beyond the fine-print of play, all the other elements that make Calcio Storico so ceremonial – everything from the imagery used on costumes to the tunes played by parading musicians – are carefully governed. Such matters are overseen by a branch of public administration with few equivalents elsewhere: the Office of Florentine Folk Traditions. In the spirit of the game’s no-outsiders origins, safeguarding the Fiorentinità (the “Florentine-ness”) of the ritual is a top priority, too, if not a particularly PC one. Potential players are required to have been resident in the Florence metropolitan area for at least 10 consecutive years.

Though the game may seem lawless, there are actually strict governing rules in place to keep this Florentine heritage alive

While rivalries and regulations are intense, and bad blood can sometimes surface in off-season brawls around town, “these days many players [from different teams] are friends,” says Ferraro. “At least until match day!” And though many of those same players wax poetic about the glories of the game no matter the outcome, victory is still paramount. “You’re training six, seven months and thinking about it all year, so of course you want to bring a win home and feel like the king of Florence,” Ferraro says. “But that’s the cherry on top of the cake.”

landscape with balloons floating in the air

KEEN TO EXPLORE THE WORLD?

Connect with like-minded people on our premium trips curated by local insiders and with care for the world

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.

Winter Sale Offers on Our Trips

Incredible Savings

X
Edit article