There is an event that you truly don’t have to miss, if you are on holiday in Veneto, Italy. Have you ever heard of the Marostica chess match? This is no ordinary game: 650 living characters meet in Piazza Castello and move around the chessboard, telling the legend of a love epic dating back to 1454. Today, it is a timeless story.
Let’s find out more about this event, its history and legend, and the beautiful hamlet of Marostica and its surroundings.
Marostica, a keeper of love’s flame
Marostica is a village in the Veneto region at the foot of the Italian Prealps halfway between Verona and Venice. A location between two of the most romantic cities in the world leads Marostica to guard within its walls a love story, too.
As soon as you arrive in Marostica you will already feel like you are in a fairy tale: the hills of Marostica are covered with cherry meadows and are colored in every season from white to red. It is beautiful to walk the paths along the Longhella stream, all the way to Bassano del Grappa and Asiago.
If you’re in Marostica for the chess game, it’s worth taking a nice tour of the historical center to discover its charm.
Piazza Castello, which serves as the setting for the Chess Game, is a real drawing room, one of the most picturesque squares in the Veneto. Porticoed on three sides, you can enter it by crossing the 14th-century Lower Castle. Behind it, up the hill, lies the Upper Castle. Here two rows of walls, the so-called briglie, embrace the town. Walk along this truly majestic city wall up to the Upper Castle. Alternatively, you can take a short but rather steep path to the top, from which you can enjoy an unprecedented panoramic view of the city and the chessboard.
Marostica chess game: from legend to real-life event?
It is 1454 and Marostica is part of the Venice Republic. Two young warriors Rinaldo d’Angarano and Vieri da Vallonara fell in love with the castle lord’s beautiful daughter, Lionora. In order to avoid bloodshed, the lord of the castle invoked an edict of the Serenissima and proposed a chess game instead of a duel. The winner would be given Lionora in marriage and, to the loser, his other daughter Oldrada.
The challenge would be held on a festive day in the Castle Square of Marostica, in the presence of all the people, and the chessmen would not be mere inanimate pawns, but living characters, armed and marked with the colors black and white according to the custom of the time. The chessboard would be animated with dances and performances to entertain the whole audience.
At the end of the match, the winner would be celebrated with fireworks that lit up the facade of the lower castle. Legend has it that Lionora was secretly in love with one of the suitors and that in case of his victory she would have the castle lit up.
A true glimpse of medieval life
For sixty years, Marostica has been performing this love story with a happy ending. Since 1954 the legend has been re-enacted, with living characters, on the second weekend in September of even-numbered years.
A backdrop of ladies, knights, fire-breathers, jesters and jugglers in Castle Square that brings as many as 650 figures on stage for two hours of the game. This is not just a chess match, but a true event to have a true glimpse of medieval life! The game is set in a truly unique setting, among the castle that dominates proudly the scene from the top of the hill.
And at the end a parade flood the alleys of the historical center, under the lights of fireworks that brightly illuminate the castle. The event consists of four events, Friday evening, Saturday evening, Sunday afternoon and Sunday evening. Three really packed days for the “marosticensi,” which are the result of rehearsals that begin as early as summer…nothing happens by chance and all citizens are involved in this great folklore event!
For other events in Vicenza and surroundings, keep reading this blog post on the 3 best summer dates!
