The 'Palio delle Repubbliche Marinare' is a competition that takes places every year. The four ancient 'Republiche Marinare' (Amalfi, Genova, Pisa, Venezia) organise in turn a regatta and the four maritime republics symbolically contest the leadership of the sea that was once the cause of many great struggles, particularly between Venice and Genova.
The opening of the regatta sees an impressive historical parade where hundreds of people parade in costume, bearing the standards of the ancient republics. The spectacular event is preceded by a great historical pageant of 400 boaters with participants in period costumes: flags and festoons, trumpets and drums, horses and sedan-chairs add glamour to the solemn procession.
Then the race begins, four identical boats, called "galleons", represent the four seafaring Republics, each with eight oarsmen, plus a helmsman. Each is marked by different colours and figureheads: deep blue with a winged horse for Amalfi; white with a winged dragon for Genoa; crimson with an eagle for Pisa; and emerald green the St. Mark's lion for Venice.
The route is some 1,800 to 2,000 metres long When Venice hosts the event, the finishing line is in Saint Mark's basin.
The feast ends with the awarding of the trophy, a medieval galleon, which is held for one year by the city whose team won the Regatta and then is returned and offered again as the prize in the following year's Regatta.
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