Porta Sant'Andrea Won Both of Arezzo's Saracen Jousts in the Same Year for the First Time Since Nineteen Ninety-Four
Porta Sant'Andrea won the 150th Giostra del Saracino with nine points, completing a June and September double for the first time in 32 years.
The Giostra del Saracino is a jousting contest held in Piazza Grande in Arezzo, Tuscany, between the city's four historic quarters: Porta Crucifera, Porta del Foro, Porta Sant'Andrea and Porta Santo Spirito. Two knights ride for each quarter, charging with a lance at the Buratto, a spring-loaded figure of the King of the Indies holding a shield and a flail. The pair with the highest combined score wins, and a score can be doubled if the lance breaks after hitting the target. The joust is run twice a year, in June and on the first Sunday of September.
The 150th edition was held on 6 September in front of a sold-out piazza. Porta Sant'Andrea won with nine points, made up of five from Saverio Montini and four from Tommaso Marmorini. Porta Crucifera and Porta del Foro finished on eight points each and Porta Santo Spirito on seven. No tie-break was needed.
Sant'Andrea had also won the June joust, so the victory completed what Arezzo calls the cappotto, a clean sweep of both editions in the same year. The quarter last achieved it in 1994.
The win was Sant'Andrea's 41st golden lance, drawing it level with Porta Santo Spirito at the top of the joust's roll of honour. The golden lance awarded this year was dedicated to the papal conclave held in Arezzo in 1276.
The next joust will be the June edition in 2027, when Sant'Andrea will try to move clear at the top of the all-time list.