CHIOGGIA – La Marciliana puts on a show in the historic center: the San Michele district. he wins the Palio thanks to the precision of his crossbowmen.
Best shooter: Giovanni Perini from the San Giacomo district. San Michele is at its fifth success, it hadn’t won since 2019. Second San Martino, third San Giacomo, fourth Montalbano, fifth Sant’Andrea. San Michele won with 141 points, 10 more than San Martino. At 123 San Giacomo third. Yesterday, with these numbers and a huge audience, in addition to those who followed the live broadcast on Rai Tre, a record-breaking edition of the historic Palio which commemorates the events of the Chioggia war ended. Now in its thirty-fourth edition, it continues to attract many tourists to the city, but also many residents who cheer for their district.
Yesterday, for the last day of this long weekend, Corso del Popolo plunged into the Middle Ages with figures, shops and costumes from the fourteenth century. Medieval life since the morning, but the highlight, as always, was the large crossbow competition at 6pm in Campo Duomo, as always very followed by the Rai Tre cameras for which La Marciliana has now become a fixed event. The Chioggia crossbowmen are among the best in Italy and yesterday they demonstrated this by repeatedly hitting the target with arrows that went very close to the center. Among the 5 city Contradas (Sant’Andrea, San Giacomo, San Martino, San Michele Arcangelo and Montalbano) the winner, in the end, was the San Michele district, which snatched the title from San Giacomo, reigning champions as winners of the last edition.
Once the race was over, the Doge entered the city and the revelry began between the districts, until 11pm when the Genoese incursion into the city was re-enacted with the assault and subsequent fire on the historic tower of Sant’Andrea. A record edition graced by the good weather which, after the vagaries of the last few weeks, decided to ensure sunshine throughout the weekend allowing the perfect realization of one of the key summer events in the city. “Just as the Marciliana was one of the oldest merchant cargo ships that had the ability to resist and evolve over time and convert into a war fleet, so the medieval re-enactment of its Palio has today reached its 34th year of life – the comment by the president of the city council Beniamino Boscolo Capon – historical event and millenary testimony of Chioggia which, by age, could be the mother of Venice but which, by history, became its favorite daughter.
It is a spectacle to admire the street which comes alive with flags and tapestries and to listen to the sounds of musical instruments which resonate in the air while medieval dressed figures bring to light a bygone era: the trade shops, merchants, soldiers, pilgrims and magistrates. Applause goes to all those who contributed to this show, which not only celebrates the past, but promotes its evolution and its continuous becoming. Thanks also to the 5 districts: Sant’Andrea, San Giacomo, San Martino, Montalbano and San Michele! In the more contemporary history of our city, rare, if not isolated, are the episodes that reawaken the sense of belonging to our community: the Palio della Marciliana is a clear example of this with an organizational group and hundreds of volunteers who proudly demonstrate all the culture and history of the “Clodia Maior” of other times, whose aim, today, is to reawaken that shy pride of Clodi”.
