The Tournament of the Ages: Calcio Storico

With a history that spans more than a millennia, calcio storico (historic football) is an ancient ball game that originated from the Greeks, was adopted by the Romans and established as an annual tournament in Florence in celebration of the city’s patron saint, St. John the Baptist.

Calcio was originally a game for aristocrats to be played nightly for the Christian Epiphany season. The games were popular and competitive, and even Popes like Clement VII, Leo XI and Urban VIII would get in on the fun. In 1574, Henry III of France attended a match on his visit to Venice, describing the game as “too small to be a real war and too cruel to be a game.” Official rules were established in 1580 by Giovanni de’ Bardi, the Florentine Count of Vernio, though by the 17^th century, the sport’s popularity began to wane.

In 1930, the sport was revived by the Kingdom of Italy, commencing the annual tradition of playing three matches each year in the third week of June. A sand field is set up in Piazza Santa Croce for the four teams: Santa Croce/Azzurri, Santa Maria Novella/Rossi, Santa Spirito/Bianchi and San Giovanni/Verdi. The final match is held on June 24, San Giovanni’s Day, the Patron Saint of Florence. While the modern version is a little more tame, banning sucker punch and kicks to the head, players are still allowed to head-butt, punch, elbow and choke, though it is now limited to one-on-one — no ganging up on anybody.

To see this unusual sport in action, you will need to visit Florence at the end of June. To learn more about the sport and festival, visit calciostoricofiorentino.it.