Imagine roaming at night, lighted by oil torches, between narrow and winding alleys surrounded by stone houses, among strange figures of armigers, witches, jugglers, fire-eaters and snake charmers. You aren't in famous Frittole in the "almost fifteen hundreds" offered in the film "Non ci resta che piangere" of Benigni and Troisi, but in Vicopisano, a medieval town in the Pisa inland, where every year a "two days" of Medieval re-evocation takes place.
The seventh edition of the Medieval festival will take place in September and will see the streets of Vicopisano fill with walk-ons in historical costume, two groups of street artists and a representation of 25 arbalesters coming from nearby Pisa.
Castled up on a mount in the foothills of the Monte Pisano, Vicopisano keeps its original military structure, first for Pisa and then for Florence. Under Florence, in the XV century, the town acquired its current connotation, with the Fortress designed by Brunelleschi uniting the lower part with the summit of the mount, creating an effective defensive complex and which still today stands out in all its beauty in front of the gaze of those travelling the plains between Pisa and Pontedera.
This year the Medieval Festival will be held in the historical centre of Vicopisano. The main attraction of the Festival is the medieval dinner, which is held out in the open, on the terrace in front of the Palazzo Pretorio, of the 14th century.
Dinner is limited to less than a hundred fortunate ones who will have to book at the Vicopisano Municipality, and is prepared and set up according to the old medieval recipes and traditions. A peculiarity: forks are banned - their circulation dates back to the 16th century; what used to be a two-pointed fork was too similar to the devil's horns to be used by medieval man.
Who won't be able to sit at the medieval banquet will find refreshment in the various 'taverne' scattered in the village, in spaces livened up by dances, music and costume figures.
To reach Vicopisano: from the A11 exit at Altopascio, follow the indications for the Bientina; from the S.G.C. FI-PI-LI (Florence-Pisa-Livorno) exit at Cascina, if you are coming from Pisa or exit at Pontedera if coming from Florence.
Vicopisano Municipality (In Italian)
Last year's Festa Medievale (In Italian)
