Events, in Amalfi the history of the Italian navy is recalled

The flag whipped by the wind, the foam of the sea that rises impetuously and the colors of the four galleons of Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa and Venice that do battle, recalling, only agonistically, that fierce struggle for the hegemony of trade and the navy. This is the image of strength. This is the image of the 32 rowers who push with strokes of the oars the four boats on the stretch of sea where the mountains of the Coast fall with an almost Dolomite-like crudeness. Frames that hark back to the glories of the Middle Ages when the galleys of the Ancient Maritime Republics sailed the Mediterranean on the route to North Africa and the Middle East, where they established warehouses and colonies, maintaining profitable commercial and diplomatic relationships.

Fragments of a glorious history that will be celebrated in Amalfi on the occasion of the 70th edition of the Regatta of the Ancient Maritime Republics, an exciting event that will culminate on Sunday 18 May 2025 with the Palio Remiero on the stretch of sea between Capo di Vettica and Marina Grande.

But first today the usual appointment with history in which the exploits of the four greatest powers of the Middle Ages are retraced. A history of domination, opulence and conquest that lives through dukes and ducisse, consuls and queens, heroines and nobles, crews and knights who parade to the rhythm of timpani and the sound of trumpets. Because the event is not just the race between the four boats, eagerly awaited by enthusiasts and sportsmen. The Regatta of the Ancient Maritime Republics is above all a dive into the past through which the glories of the past are revived: Amalfi with the marriage of power celebrated in 1002, when Sergio, the young firstborn of Duke Giovanni I and the Duchess Regale, married the Lombard Maria, daughter of the Prince of Capua and Benevento; Pisa with the heroine Kinzica dei Sismondi who saved the city from the Arabs; Genoa with Guglielmo Embriaco known as “Testa di Maglio” and his deeds; Venice with Caterina Cornaro Queen of Cyprus carried in triumph by the Moors.

An event that involves the entire coast, starting from nearby Atrani, where, after the crowd's embrace of the four crews (today at 5:45 pm there will be the rowing palio with the female crews, one of the great novelties of recent years, who will compete along the stretch of sea between Marmorata and Atrani, and to follow, in Piazza Umberto I in Atrani, the presentation of the four male crews who will battle it out on a two thousand meter course on Sunday 18 May 2025), the historical procession will unfold with almost 300 participants in period costumes.

This will be the epilogue of the first day in which the protagonists will be the Maritime Republics of Italy with their load of history and meaning.

To greet the four cities, during the parade, there will be a close passage in the bay of Amalfi of the training ship “Vespucci” of the Italian Navy.

Traffic on the affected section of the Strada Statale 163 “Amalfitana” will be interrupted on Saturday 17 May from 7pm to 9pm.

The Procession this year will also remember the splendor and glorious past of the four queens of the seas through a historical reenactment with over three hundred participants that will parade from Atrani to Amalfi. A reenactment that also wants to allude to that fierce struggle for the hegemony of trade and the navy, to those institutions of warehouses in the East, to those triumphs that welcomed a consul or a navarch particularly intrepid in his mission.

The grand finale of the first day of the event will be the fireworks display that will light up the bay of Amalfi at 11.45pm.

Sunday 18 May 2025 the long-awaited competitive moment with the Regatta of the Ancient Maritime Republics. The start is scheduled for 12:30 from Capo di Vettica, near a promontory on which stands a 16th century viceregal tower. The finish line will be located in front of the Marina Grande and the suggestive backdrop of Monte Aureo, with the Torre dello Ziro, the former monastery of S. Lorenzo del Piano, the Capo di Croce district, the former convent and the tower of S. Francesco. In the middle, a route that advances in front of the sinuous western coast, suggestive and wild.

The event will end at Piazzale Flavio Gioia where the awards ceremony for the crews will take place at 1.15 pm.

For the occasion, traffic on the section of the Strada Statale 163 “Amalfitana” in question will be interrupted on Sunday 18 May from 11.50 am to 1.50 pm or in any case until the end of the awards ceremony.

The final salute to the 70th appointment with the history and deeds of the four Maritime Republics of Italy is entrusted to the Fanfara dei Carabinieri which will perform at 7 pm in Piazza Duomo at the end of the parade through the historic center, which will start at 6:15 pm from Via Casamare.

The Regatta is a show within a show, and its highlight is its rowing race in which the four fixed-seat galleons will compete: Amalfi blue; Pisa red; Genoa white; Venice green. Originally made of wood and then replaced by new fiberglass boats, the boats have a castle at the stern with the flag of each republic and a figurehead at the bow: Amalfi uses a winged horse which, together with the mermaid, was one of the main motifs used for the figureheads of medieval galleys; Genoa instead has the dragon recalling its Protector St. George; Pisa displays the German imperial eagle in memory of the faithful collaboration offered to the Swabian and Ghibelline cause by the Tuscan Republic; Venice presents the lion of St. Mark as the symbol of its patron saint.

The Ancient Republics will battle it out to reclaim the trophy awarded, year after year, to the winning city: a precious oared galleon (like the one used in the race) in gold and silver supported by four hippocampi, underneath which appear the coats of arms of the four Maritime Republics.

Also this year Rai will guarantee the live TV broadcast of the event which will be broadcast on Rai2, by Tg2, from 12 to 12.50.

With the magical flow of history that permeates the walls of its palaces and historic buildings, Amalfi will be the setting for an event that over the years has increasingly become a collection of suggestions that culminate with the arrival of the galleons in the harbor. But the Regatta between Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa and Venice, in addition to being a historical reenactment and a sporting event at the same time, is above all a review of attractions and wonders from a cultural perspective.

The 70th edition of the Regatta of the Ancient Maritime Republics of Italy sees the important contribution of the Chamber of Commerce of Salerno, of the GAL Pesca “Approdo di Ulisse” and of the companies Dimegas and Travelmar. The technical sponsor of the event is Anantara Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi which for years has accompanied the athletes of the blue galleon in the challenge of the Maritime Republics of Italy.