The story
Joust of the Saracen Arezzo in Arezzo
Twice yearly, in June and September, jousters from Arezzo's four quarters gallop down the sloped Piazza Grande and strike a Saracen effigy called Buratto with their lances. A wooden shield in one hand and a weighted flail in the other means slow riders get struck back as Buratto spins. Scoring runs on shield zones, documented since the 1500s and revived in 1931.
Twice each year, on the last Saturday of June and the first Sunday of September, knights representing Arezzo's four historic quarters gallop in pairs down the steep, irregular slope of Piazza Grande and thrust their lances at a wooden effigy known as Buratto, a caricature of a Saracen king holding a shield in one hand and a weighted three-corded whip, the mazzafrusto, in the other.