L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano I wonder: how many p e o p l e k n o w t h a t Venice has a bridge d e d i c a t e d t o f i s t fighting, and that its s t o r y l i e s a l l i n i t s v e r y n a m e , t h e P o n t e d e i Pugni, or the bridge of fists? Forget about the baroque g r a n d e u r o f P o n t e d e i Sospiri and don't let your mind think too much about the fashionable centrality of Rialto bridge: when you l o o k a t i t , t h e P o n t e d e i Pugni is simple and, while pretty – you wouldn't expect anything in Venice not to be, it is truly rather unas- suming. Located in the ses- tiere of Dorsoduro, just a s t o n e ' s t h r o w f r o m S a n Barnaba church, it crosses the homonymous canal, the R i o d e S a n B a r n a b a . Architecturally, as said, it is quite simple, built in stone and bricks, with iron, cross- shaped railings supported by Istrian stone columns. Its only peculiarity are four I s t r i a n s t o n e f o o t p r i n t s placed at its pathway. If it's not particularly valuable artistically, it's not big nor really famous, why are you writing about it, you m a y a s k . I t ' s s i m p l e : because of its history. In centuries past, Venice was divided in two rival fac- tions, something we still see i n V e n i c e ' s o w n f a m o u s R e g a t a S t o r i c a : t h e Castellani faction and the N i c o l o t t i f a c t i o n . T h e Castellani represented the residents of the city's east- ern part, where the sestiere C a s t e l l o , t h e l a r g e s t i n V e n i c e , i s , w h i l e t h e Nicolotti held high the flag of people from the western side of the city, where we f i n d t h e S a n N i c o l ò d e i Mendicoli (Saint Nicholas of the Beggars) church. As you would expect from two opposing teams, each had a color, red for the Castellani and black for the Nicolotti. Little is known about the two factions' origin: some s a y t h e y a r e v e s t i g e s o f ancient civil wars, in partic- ular of the one between the p e o p l e o f E r a c l e a a n d J e s o l o , t h a t h a d t a k e n place in the early Middle Ages. After it, citizens from both towns moved and set- tled in the Venice lagoon, creating the communities that were to be at the root of the factions themselves. Others, on the other hand, associate their birth with t h e m u r d e r o f a b i s h o p from Castello, carried out by people from the San Nicolò dei Mendicoli area. B u t w h e r e t h e r i v a l r y comes from doesn't really matter: it has always been there and the Venetian gov- ernment did everything to keep it going. In the end, the more local men knew how to fight, the better it was when there was need f o r g o o d f i g h t e r s i n t h e a r m y ; t h e m o r e c i t i z e n s were divided, the easier it was to keep them under control and avoid rebel- lions. Now, the Castellani and the Nicolotti were particu- larly keen on a specific way to fight: using their fists. While they had indulged for s o m e t i m e i n t h e u s e o f c a n e s a n d c l u b s , t h e i r hands, in the end, became the best of weapons. In order to avoid chaos a l l y e a r r o u n d , t h e Castellani and Nicolotti could fight one another only between September and Christmas day and only on bridges: their favorite? The Bridge of San Barnaba, of c o u r s e , t h e o n e k n o w n today as – you guessed it – Ponte dei Pugni. The battle would begin with a fight between two champions, also known as mostra, but it would quickly turn into a full brawl. The ultimate aim of the game? Throwing your opponents in the canal, of course, so that your team could win. So, how did the event take place? It would all begin with choosing the bridge: indeed, w h i l e t h e B r i d g e o f S a n B a r n a b a w a s t h e m o s t f a m o u s , s o m u c h s o i t s name would eventually bear witness to the fight – there were other bridges in Venice t h a t c o u l d b e u s e d , t h e Ponte di Santa Fosca and also the aptly named Ponte della Guerra, located not f a r f r o m t h e S a n Z u l i a n church. On the day chosen for the fight, the teams would gath- er at each end of the bridge: sometimes, there were up to three hundred participants and, in the older days when weapons could still be used – t h e y w e r e e v e n t u a l l y banned in 1575 -- it wasn't unusual to see them geared up like soldiers, with hel- mets and shields. Locals would gather in the streets t o w a t c h a n d t h o s e w h o lived in the houses near the bridge would open their window to get a first row view of the show. As said, it w o u l d a l l s t a r t w i t h t w o selected fighters challenging one another: each of them would put their feet on the Istrian stone footprints we can still see today, so that they'd start from the same place, in the same position. More often then not, the rest of the two groups would soon join in, and the bridge would become a bona fide battlefield in the middle of the city. In fact, it wasn't unusual for the public to throw a punch or two, as well. Mind, the aim of it all wasn't to kill the enemy, but just to throw him in the canal. That said, there must have been plenty of black e y e s a n d b r o k e n n o s e s around town in the follow- ing days. The showdown could last for hours and, often, guards had to intervene to stop contentions at sunset. On a faithful day in 1705, though, some fighters used k n i v e s i n s t e a d o f t h e i r hands: it was a gruesome, t r a g i c b a t t l e , t h a t y e a r , between the Castellani and the Nicolotti. So tragic that authorities finally decided t o p u t a n e n d , p e r h a p s rightly, to a long lasting, if pretty violent, tradition. And this was just another little anecdote about La Serenissima and, today, only the name of a bridge and four inlaid stone foot- prints remain, of this curi- ous gem of Venetian history. LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE The most unusual of Venice's bridges: the Ponte dei Pugni CHIARA D'ALESSIO The Ponte dei Pugni (the bridge of fists) today (Photo: Marco Fine/Shutterstock)

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