Giostra del Gonfalone

An entire town returning to its past

The Giostra del Gonfalone is the signature event of Magliano Sabina, a town in the province of Rieti, in the heart of the Lazio Sabina region. For four days, usually in June to coincide with the Corpus Domini Sunday, the village overlooking the Tiber valley transforms into an open-air stage: flags hang from windows, period costumes fill the streets, drums and clarions echo, and taverns open in the courtyards and gardens of the historic center.

The historical roots of the re-enactment

The Giostra evokes the centuries—from the 14th to the 19th—when Magliano, despite belonging to the Papal States, was effectively dependent on the Municipality of Rome and subject to periodic inspections by the Conservatore, the highest Roman magistrate sent to oversee the administration of subject territories. The arrival of the Conservatore, welcomed by city authorities, remains one of the most anticipated moments of the event. In the background lies another major episode of local history: the 1495 bull of Pope Alexander VI Borgia, which granted Magliano the title of city and the dignity of a diocesan seat—an anniversary celebrated in 1995 with an extraordinary quincentenary edition, commemorated thirty years later in 2025.

The four districts

The town is divided into four districts that compete every year: Valle, Piano, Colle, and San Giovanni. Each has its own colors, banner, performers, and knight. Preparation lasts for months and mobilizes hundreds of people: tailoring, set design, parade rehearsals, and stables. It is this collective effort, even more than the competition itself, that explains the longevity of the Giostra.

The rhythm of the four days

• Thursday — Opening with the Children's Palio: children from the four districts compete in games and a miniature joust. In the evening, the drawing of the jousting knights and the ribbon-tying ceremony take place.
• Friday — Knighting ceremony in the Cathedral of San Liberatore: cloak, belt, and sword, with the offering of a rose to the Virgin, preceded by a historical pageant and a torchlight procession through the town center.
• Saturday — A day of costumed performances: flag-wavers, musicians, jesters, a market, and ancient crafts, with district taverns open for dinner.
• Sunday — The highlight. The historical pageant starts from Piazza Garibaldi and, along Via Manlio, reaches the sports field where the Ring Joust takes place: successive heats where knights charge to spear the ring that wins the Gonfalone.

Flavors and taverns

The gastronomic experience is managed by the taverns set up by the districts and committees, where guests dine at long wooden tables: dishes from Sabina cuisine, local cold cuts and cheeses, homemade pasta, grilled meats, and above all, the Sabina PDO extra virgin olive oil, the signature product of this hilly corner of Lazio.

Why it's worth the trip

Less than an hour from Rome and a few kilometers from the motorway exit, Magliano Sabina offers an authentic re-enactment free from tourist traps: it is the locals themselves who stage their own history before an audience largely composed of people from neighboring towns. Visitors will find a charming village, views over the Tiber valley, the Civic Archaeological Museum, and a Sabina region of ancient olive groves that deserves to be explored in the days that follow.