Palio delle Antiche repubbliche Marinare Italiane

Sunday, 26 April 1002: horns and trumpets blaring, drums rolling, bells ringing, oriental rugs, damask and silk drapes hanging from the arched windows of the clusters of white houses clinging to the steep sides of the hills sloping towards the blue Amalfi sea.

It is a feast day in the capital of the coastal duchy: Sergius, the eldest son of Duke John I and ducissa Regale, is wedding Maria, the daughter of the Lombard Prince of Capua and Benevento. The
wedding couple is flanked by knights and ladies of the ducal court. A long procession, revisited by scenographer Roberto Scielzo, parades through the streets of the city.
It is led by the stern-looking old magnificentissimus dux Manso I, grandfather of the groom, followed by the judges in his court, the sea consul, the consuls of the Republic back for the occasion from the virtual overseas colonies, the standard-bearer carrying the banner of the republic, surrounded by attendants, the colour sergeants carrying the red flag in memory of the Roman origins of Amalfi, the knights