Easter is over. Let the countdown to Calcio Storico begin.

Easter just passed by and if you were in Florence and were wondering what was going on in Piazza Duomo with all those fireworks and people, that was the Scoppio del Carro. A tradition that goes back to 1097 (at least that is the first account we found about it). I’m not going to dwell deep into the history of this event, but I’ll give you some context so you know why this happened.

The Scoppio del Carro is a tradition that happens in Florence for Easter Sunday, this wasn’t always the case, as back in the Medici times it would be celebrated on the day before Easter to give out a sacred fire that was brought by Goffredo di Buglione to Florence in 1101. But time tends to change traditions, and after some hundred years, the event started to symbolize the possibility of a good harvest the coming season. How would one know that there would’ve been a good harvest? That I’ll explain in the video that’ll be coming out shortly. (you’ll find it up here)

So that’s a quick recap on the Scoppio del Carro, but the most important thing about his event has nothing to do with Crusaders and Harvests, it has to do with Calcio Storico. Florentine Traditional Football. We talked about it a gazillion times, in a bunch of different articles, but just in case you forgot what it is it’s a mix of rugby, football, soccer, and MMA. Yeah. MMA.

The big news that has to do with this amazing (yes amazing cause I’ve been here for so long I’ve been desensitized by the violence) is that after the Scoppio del Carro, the president of the Calcio Storico Fiorentino association draws the teams that will play the first round of matches before the Final that takes place on June 24th for San Giovanni.

Quick recap on the teams we have The Azzurri di Santa Croce (the blue team of Santa Croce), the Verdi di San Giovanni (the green team of Piazza Duomo), the Bianchi of Santo Spirito (the white team of Santo Spirito), and the Rossi of Santa Maria Novella (the Red team of SMN). You root for a team based on where you live in the city, I live near Santa Croce and that makes me an Azzurro if you leave near San Frediano that’ll probably make you a Bianco, and so on. The division was based on a smaller Florence, and if you’re out of the city center you should ask locals what team is of the area, because outside the “Vecchia Cinta Muraria” it depends on what the “Quartiere” feels rather than the city’s division.

The matches are held in Piazza Santa Croce and will be

June 15th

June 16th