It is easier to understand its rules if you see it live!

The Gioco del Ponte (battle of the bridge) is, in fact, a contest between two teams of twenty competitors representing the Tramontana and Mezzogiorno neighbourhoods held on the Ponte di Mezzo on the Saturday preceding the last Sunday of June.

The teams push a cart weighing seven tons on a 50-metre track so as to make the opponents go back as much as possible. At both ends of the track are two flags. The challenge finishes when one of the two teams makes the flag behind the opposing team fall.

Equally exciting is the ceremony that precedes the battle: the sumptuous pageant, composed of more than 700 people wearing 16th-century style costumes; the encampments of the two teams along the banks of the Arno; the team defeated in the last edition that throws down the gauntlet... Spectacular elements that attract to the lungarni thousands of tourists.

Look at the calendar and you will find out that, if you plan your holiday in Tuscany in advance, you can assist to the Luminara, the Palio and the Gioco del Ponte.

If you do not want to miss any of the three events, you can rent a villa in Pisa for a couple of weeks or, in case you would like to stay in the countryside, a typical Tuscan villa in one of the many villages in the hinterland of the town of the Leaning Tower.