page_title: Palio di Legnano
section_title: The 1970s
hierarchical_section_title: Palio di Legnano / History / The 1970s
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Corsa ippica del Palio di Legnano 2013
context_page_description: The Palio di Legnano is a folk event generally held on the last Sunday of May in the City Of Legnano, Italy, to recall the Battle of Legnano held on May 29, 1176 by the Lombard League and the Holy Roman Empire of Frederick Barbarossa. This Palio is composed by a medieval pageant and a horse race. Until 2005 the whole event was named Sagra del Carroccio.
  Legnano is subdivided into eight contrade, each of which takes part both in the medieval pageant and in the horse race held at the stadio Giovanni Mari. This is considered one of the most important non-competitive events of this type in Italy. In 2003 the historic pageant was shown at the Columbus Day in New York City.
  A lot of Palio-centric events take place in Legnano during May and July, such as the choral exhibition La Fabbrica del Canto '' born in 1992 from an idea of the musical association Jubilate. In 2015, institutions made 29 May a holiday for the whole of Lombardy.
context_section_description: In 1970 a striking fact occurred which caused quite a stir. Giuseppe Gentili, known as Ciancone, jockey of the Contrada La Flora, was convinced by two contrada members of San Bernardino to go to Parma to a restaurant to have a lunch before the race. After the meal, the three returned to Legnano late for the horse race. The jockey of La Flora could not therefore participate in the race, and invented a mysterious abduction carried out by the contradaioli of San Bernardino. The police then discovered the deception and arrested the jockey for a false complaint.
  From 1971, in the horse race, the saddle was abolished with the return to the obligation, on the part of the jockeys, of the bareback riding, a type of mount that had characterized the first editions of the palio. This return to the past led to the participation of the famous jockeys who already ran the Palio di Siena and the Palio di Asti at the horse race at the Sagra del Carroccio. Among them we must certainly mention Andrea Degortes (called Aceto), Leonardo Viti (called Canapino), Salvatore Ladu (called Cianchino), Mario Cottone (known as Truciolo) and Antonello Casula (called Moretto). In 1974 the canapo (the front rope) was reintroduced for the start of the horse race.
  In 1972 an unknown hand set fire to the manor of the Contrada San Domenico, which destroyed the headquarters of the contrada and all that was inside it, such as the weapons and clothes of the medieval pageant. Of all the preserved material only a velvet masculine garment escaped from the fire, which is still exhibited at the museum of the contrada.
  The 1976 edition of the palio was special: the 8th centenary of the battle of Legnano was celebrated. On this occasion, specific cultural, sporting, artistic and historical events were organized as a corollary to the main event. The captains of the contrade of Legnano were the protagonists, on 2 and 3 April, of a ride reminiscent in period costume whose path wound between Legnano and Pontida, site of the legendary Oath of Pontida that saw, according to tradition, the birth of the Lombard League: the itinerary, 70 km long, was divided into two stages, with an intermediate overnight stay on the night of 2 April inside the Royal Villa of Monza. In the same year a second cavalcade of the captain was prepared, this time destined for the Morimondo Abbey. The Carroccio used in the Palio di Legnano and the copy of the cross by Aribert were brought, on May 14th, with a solemn ceremony, to the Basilica of San Simpliciano in Milan. In the following years the captains repeatedly recalled the stages of the battle of Legnano going back along the descent of Frederick Barbarossa in the Olona valley, a descent that was the premise for the famous armed clash of 29 May 1176.
  In 1976 it was also organized, at the Arena Civica in Milan, an extraordinary palio, which was won by San Magno; this event was heralded by a historic parade through the streets of the Lombard capital, from the Sforza Castle to the Arena Civica, which consisted of 600 participants. Saturday, May 29th, the 8th centenary was solemnly celebrated in Legnano with a procession that left from Palazzo Malinverni, the city hall, and arrived at the monument to the Warrior of Legnano. The celebration ended then at the Galleria di Legnano. The 1976 Sagra del Carroccio was particularly solemn and was accompanied by an important public setting: along the streets of Legnano in fact 50,000 people congregated. The President of the Italian Republic Giovanni Leone was unable to be in Legnano to attend the event due to some commitments. However, the head of state sent a message:
  [...] The memory of this great historic event is an opportunity to renew not only the memory of the struggles for the independence of the free medieval municipalities, but also to reaffirm the civil and democratic commitment of our republican institutions. [...]
  — Giovanni Leone, President of the Italian Republic
  The horse race of 1977, won by the Contrada Sant'Erasmo, was not assigned due to some heated arguments that occurred at the end of the 
caption: Horse race of the Palio di Legnano 2013
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