A quarry for the Palace
The place known today as the Crossbowmen's Quarry was born as an extraction quarry. In the last twenty years of the nineteenth century, during the construction of the new Public Palace (1884-1894), Sammarinese stonemasons extracted here the local sandstone needed for the facade, the columns and the cornices. The systematic cutting of the rock, carried out for decades, left a natural amphitheatre on the side of the Titano, just below the city centre.
In 1935 the architect Gino Zani proposed a redevelopment project: a new Government Office Building was to rise on the site. Construction began but was interrupted by the Second World War and the bombings of 1944. Of the Zani project only the high base supporting the road above remains, today part of the Monument to the Fallen. The idea of building a palace on the area was abandoned definitively after the war.
Arena of the crossbow
From the Sixties the Quarry was gradually equipped for the Italian-style great crossbow shooting, an ancient sport of arms that is part of the historical recovery and folklore of the Republic. The crossbowmen had begun to train here from 1965, and in 1966 the Federazione Sammarinese Balestrieri was officially born, a body that is part of the Italian Crossbowmen Federation founded in the same year together with the historic groups of Gubbio, Sansepolcro, Massa Marittima and Lucca.
The official inauguration of the Quarry as a venue for historic shooting took place on 3 September 1971, a date chosen for a reason: it is the day of the feast of San Marino and the traditional anniversary of the foundation of the Republic. Since then the Quarry has been the fixed reference point for the Palio of the Crossbowmen and for the daily training sessions of the Federation.
«The slow arrows of the great crossbow look more like a ritual than a shooting sport. But the precision is very high, and the history that runs in those gestures spans five centuries.»
61 protagonists on 3 September
Every year the Quarry hosts the Palio of the Crossbowmen, a popular festival and shooting tournament that takes place on the recurrence of the Saint, on 3 September. The first traces of the event date back to 1537, the year in which a few friars of the nearby St. Francis convent also participated, demonstrating the involvement of all citizens and the deeply popular character of the initiative.
After a long period of suspension, the Palio was re-established in 1956 and since then it takes place with historical costumes that re-propose the uniforms of the nine teams and the colours that represent the flags of the nine Castelli. The teams are made up of 5 crossbowmen and a flag-bearer; to the body of the palio are added an officer, a herald, a page, two drummers and two trumpeters. In all 61 people in fourteenth-century costume descend into the arena.
| Role | Number | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Crossbowmen (per team) | 5 | Shooters in competition |
| Flag-bearer | 1 × 9 teams | Representation of the Castello |
| Officer | 1 | Direction of the procession |
| Herald | 1 | Reading of the proclamation |
| Page | 1 | Ceremonial service |
| Drummers | 2 | Rhythmic pacing of the event |
| Trumpeters | 2 | Announcements and ceremonial passages |
Seven centuries of crossbowmen
Since the fourteenth century there have been testimonies of the presence of a body of crossbowmen with the task of defending the city walls and maintaining public order. The Italian-style great crossbow is an ancient weapon, more than a metre long, equipped with a stirrup for arming and a release mechanism for the bolt. Shooting requires strength, precision and long training: for this reason the crossbowmen are often the same for many years, with an almost artisanal transmission of the technique.
Today the Sammarinese crossbowmen take part in national and international tournaments, obtaining titles and recognitions well beyond the borders of the Republic. The Quarry is their daily training ground, open to the public, who can attend shooting sessions on weekdays, especially in the weeks leading up to the Palio. The natural setting, with the rock of the Titano as the backdrop, makes the visit evocative even outside the official event.