Carrese of San Martino in Pensilis (San Leo Race)

The Carrese, the soul of San Martino in Pensilis

In lower Molise, in the province of Campobasso, San Martino in Pensilis lives all year waiting for just one day: April 30th, when the Carrese is run in honor of the patron saint San Leo. It is not a simple festival, it is the moment when the entire town identifies with the colors of one of the factions and follows, with bated breath, an ox-drawn cart race over nine kilometers long.

The legend of San Leo

Tradition tells that some nobles, during a hunt, found the body of a Benedictine monk under a stone. To settle the dispute over the relics, the body was placed on a cart drawn by oxen: where the cart stopped, there the remains would stay. The cart stopped in the territory of San Martino, and the monk — later venerated as Saint Leo the Confessor — became the patron saint of the town. Pilgrimages on ox-drawn carts to his relics transformed over time into real races: the Carrese was born.

The two factions and the course

The challenge pits the Giovani (Youngsters), in white-blue colors, against the Giovanotti (Young Men), in yellow-red colors (in recent years, the Giovanissimi category has also been added). The course, just over nine kilometers long, crosses hamlets and countryside with a change of horses halfway, in the Tratturo area, and concludes at the church arch in the town center: the first cart to cross it wins. The finishing order determines the starting positions for the following year, fueling a cyclical rivalry passed down from generation to generation.

A heritage of Molise

The Carrese of San Martino in Pensilis is part of a select group of 'carresi' in lower Molise, peasant traditions and rituals deeply linked to the territory and now recognized as intangible cultural heritage. Experiencing the Carrese means breathing the identity of an entire community: the roar of the carts, the dust kicked up by the oxen, the white-blue and yellow-red flags, and the feverish anticipation of the final verdict.