High Quality
Open the downloaded document, and select print from the file menu (PDF reader required).
AGENZIA
01
PUBBLICITA'
ORISTANO
Via Mazzini,
2
Tel.
338 3280810
SA
SARTIGLIA
20
~
SA
IA
On the last Sunday
of
Camivaland
a
y.
theSartigliaTorunament is
heldatOristano.
Of
these two races, oneis
=~.::
':"'
eG;emiodei Contadini (peasants'
guild)and the other by the Gremio deifale=
~~~":S.
~ild)
:
nowthey aresupported
alsoby the Comitato Sartiglia.A century-old
c':;..~..<:';...,;
"storical,religiousand civic
elementsis thusbroughtto lifeonceagain.
ENROBING:
Atabout
120'
clock on Sundayand
{);]I~~~
±e
:\Iaster
of
Cerimony
of
the Torunament(Componidori) awaitstheceremony
i::
~e
~....sc
of
thePresident
of
theGremio. The Componidoriclimbson toalow tableand does
w:
ge:downuotilthe end of
theceremony. Whilst on the table he
is
dressed infulltou
mamea:
a......-ay
by
agroup
of
younggirlswearing the traditional Sardiniancostume,under thesupeIYision
of
anelderlywoman(Sa massaia manna);aftermounting hisbeautifully hamessedhorse. he is immediatelyjoined
by
twohorsemen;one on either side. While blessing the crowd
wi
thabunch
of
\'iolets(Sa
Pippia e Maiu), theyounggirlscasthandfuls
of
cornandflowers,andthe massaia manna(the
elderlywoman)utters the invoking prayer: "Santu Giuanni t'assistada" (maySt.Johnhelp
you)or"SantuGiuseppi t'assistada"(maySt. Joseph help you).
THE
PROCESSION:
Trumpeters, drummers,members
of
the Guild, masked horsemenmarch on,in thesquare facingtheformer Judges'Palace thecolouredprocessioncomestoa
stop: therearetraditional Sardinian andSpanish costumes withbright,warmcolour
s.
THE
TORUNAMENT:
It
be
g
in
swith the crossing
of
swords performedby the Componidoriandhis assistant,soon afterwards,atthebeating
of
drums,theComponidori spurs
hi
shorseto a madgallopand triesto piercehisswordthrough thecentral hole
of
asilver star,hanging
fromagreenribbonsuspended
in
mid-air.Thisexcitingperformance
is
repeatedby eachhorsemenandfinallyclosedby the rapiertest, which
is
only
re
served for theComponidori.
Theend
of
the tournament
is
accompaniedbytwoceremonies:the blessing
of
thecrowd byComponidoriwithabunch
of
violets (sa piappiade Maiu -literarily-the littlegirl
of
May)andthen thereassembling
of
the procession whichreachesVia Mazzini,wherehorsemen run
an
excitingrace(the"Pariglia"
).
The closingcerimonyisfollowed byagayand
la
vish dinner
and
by
dances, singing andmusic.
THROUGH
THE
CENTURIES:
In the past centuries the Sartiglia tournan1ent was wellknownoverseas,but nowit
is
rememberedand celebratedonly
in
Oristano.Thecustom
it
selfcomesfrom Spain,andthe term Sartigliacomesfrom theSpanish word
"so
rtija" meaningring.MichaelCervantesmentionsinone
of
his greatest works,a sortijawhich had to
be
given
to
the "ingenioso hidalgo",the hero
of
hisnovel.AlsoLopedeVegaandVelezde Guervare
mention the
"s
ortija"
.In
Italy Tasso's "Malpiglio"reminds us
of
the"quint
ai
nandlingrace"
as
performancesreservedforknights;the"Ricciardetto"by Forteguerri offersusa compalison
"howone races for thering",and Guido Bentivoglio,ahistorianfrom
Fenara
,whoin
1609,
in
thename
of
Paul V intervened
in
thewarbetweenSpain andHolland in Flanders,states
that,atthat time theking"racedforthe ringinthe Royalsquare"with precesand celebrated
knights.In
th
efollowingcentury
(s
ummer
1716)
Cagliari honoursthe Austrian Royalty by
celebrating thebirth
of
an archduke andracingfortheringwithgreat skill.
71
Add a Comment