Emilia Romagna Castles

The Palio del Daino returns to Mondaino!

Mondaino, a mediaeval village in the hinterland of Rimini, witnessed a particularly significant historical event in 1459 that sanctioned the peace between the Malatesta and Montefeltro Seignories. It is to recall and reconstruct that period of prosperity that this event is held every year.
As we read, in fact, in the chronicles reported by Ser Guerriero da Gubbio, in November 1459 Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta and Federico da Montefeltro met in Mondaino to sanction a truce between the two Seignories.

The 'Palio de lo Daino' represents this festive moment in which the districts of Mondaino - Borgo, Castello, Contado and Montebello - compete in the palio to win the coveted title.

The game, scheduled for Sunday, is divided into two parts. The first is the 'race of the geese', which is followed by the tournament proper, a sort of 'four corners' in which one player is excluded each time.
The streets of the village will be lined with more than 100 selected craftsmen, who will demonstrate metalworking, textiles, glass, paper and leatherwork to rediscover manual skills that have become rare or lost. Inside the workshops and along the streets of the village, one can admire majolica makers, painters, gunsmiths, lute makers, amanuensis, miniaturists and inlayers at work, while Renaissance melodies will be played in the streets and squares.
There will be absolutely themed refreshment points with 'food that is right and healthy for the soul and body'.
Historical reconstruction groups, ancient trades, craftsmen, workshops, musicians, singers and jugglers, shows, as well as the exciting challenges of the contrade, will therefore be the protagonists of the four evenings in Mondain.
The remarkable philological accuracy and attention to every detail have made the Palio de lo Daino one of the most established events at national level, recognised by the European Consortium of Historical Re-enactments.