Discovering Italian soccer traditions
Once a year, Florence remembers its medieval soccer traditions among songs, drinks and epoch dresses
While soccer fans in the whole world are now holding their breath to know who is going to win the Brazilian World Cup, it is curious to remember that, no matter what the Chinese claim about their ancient cujo game and its impact on modern soccer, Italy also has a soccer story dating back to medieval times to tell.
The magazine Delicious Italy talked about that not that long ago, reminding that even today, "the feast of St. John (Giovanni) the Baptist, patron of Florence, is celebrated by the Florentines in a very particular way with a no-holds-barred Renaissance version of soccer". It seems that these tournaments called Calcio Storico(historic soccer) "have been played virtually uninterrupted since they were begun. Millennia-old habits die hard and the events continue to serve as an annual outlet for still quite lively intramural animosities".
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