Presepi d'Italia, Mostra Nazionale del Presepe Artistico

"Each August the tiny hilltop borgo of Montone re-enacts the 1473 gift of a thorn from Christ's crown by Count Carlo Fortebracci, with costumed processions, three rioni competing for the Palio della Santa Spina and a solemn public display of the relic."

Donazione della Santa Spina

"For two weeks every August the three terzieri of Città della Pieve compete in archery, medieval tavern cooking and costumed processions rooted in the town's 1250 submission to Perugia, culminating in a silk-arazzo palio painted by a local master."

Palio dei Terzieri

"Every 16 August the hilltop village of Monteleone d'Orvieto dresses in full medieval costume to re-enact episodes from the castle's 14th-century history, culminating in the competitive Palio del Carro."

Corteo Storico e Palio del Carro di Monteleone d'Orvieto

"Villa Pitignano's long-running salt-cod festival showcases baccalà alla perugina and other inland Umbrian fish preparations that recall centuries of trade routes over ten late-summer evenings."

Sagra del Baccalà e dei Prodotti Tipici Umbri

"The small Umbrian commune of Valfabbrica, in the hills above Assisi, hosts its annual Palio as part of the national Giostra d'Italia circuit, pitting local rioni against visiting knights in a ring-joust that draws competitors from across central Italy."

Palio di Valfabbrica - Giostra d'Italia

"Foligno's September Rivincita gives the ten rioni a second chance to contest the painted Palio banner on a figure-of-eight course against the rotating Mars statue, with 800 participants in scrupulously documented seventeenth-century costume filling the streets the night before."

Giostra della Quintana - La Rivincita

"Every August the small walled borgo of San Giorgio Morgeto in the Reggino Aspromonte hosts a medieval festival that unfolds through a long historical procession winding the principal streets of the village, with costumed guilds, artisan markets and period entertainments set against the backdrop of a Norman-era castle."

Festa Medioevale

"One of Italy's most beautiful villages, Montalbano Elicona dresses its medieval streets in Aragonese costume each August for a multi-day historical festival centred on the 14th-century royal castle of Frederick II of Aragon."

Feste Aragonesi

"Randazzo, a remarkably intact medieval town built entirely from black Etna lava stone, stages its annual historical festival with costumed processions and period markets through streets that survived every Etna eruption for 700 years."

Festa Medievale

"For one week every August, Volterra's alabaster-walled medieval centre transforms into a living 14th-century town with period costumes, medieval money, crafts demonstrations and food stands inside one of Tuscany's most atmospheric hilltop cities."

Volterra AD 1398

"A five-day celebration anchored in the Stelvio National Park, bringing together mountain guides, naturalists, local producers and community storytelling in the historic alpine town of Bormio at the foot of the famous pass."

Parco in Festa

"A four-day medieval living-history re-enactment that transforms the perfectly preserved walled borough of Finalborgo into a 15th-century scene, with costumed parades, artisan markets, falconry and evening spectacles."

Viaggio nel Medioevo