May 19 - Medieval Times at the castles of Bellizona

Every year during the weekend of Pentecost, the town of Bellizona holds a type of medieval fair called "La Spada nella Rocca" - The Sword in the Stone. Even with lots of rain in the forecast, Rick and I thought we'd take the train over and hope for the best.

In the center of Bellizona is a large castle called Castlegrande, and then up the side of the mountain is another castle called Montebello. Further up the mountain is another small castle called Sasso Corbaro, but the fair was held at Montebello. This castle is what you would imagine a castle to be. It is a great place to explore, and having people in costumes playing music, selling medieval goods, and practicing their craft makes it an awesome experience at a real castle!!!

We managed most of the afternoon without rain, and during just one heavy downfall, we popped inside the castle tower. The inside has been renovated into a museum and we climbed each of the 9 floors to view artifacts recovered in archeological digs around this area of Ticino.

After the rain we continued our exploration of the castle and what the fair had to offer. It was not crowded at all because I'm sure most people stayed home because of the weather. We were able to stay long enough to watch some of the activities with horses, like jousting exercises. We were really glad we went, as the day was not a total washout. That evening we enjoyed dinner at the home of some dear friends, Mary & Edgardo & Chiara.

And for the record... I'm writing this on Tuesday, May 21. It's been raining hard day after day. Fortunately we have had a few moments of no rain where we have managed to get outside a bit, before it pours again. Yesterday we were down by the lake, and the lake was just ready to overflow - I'm sure it is by now. :-(

And once again - iPhone pictures. I'm just tired of being bogged down by a camera.

This is AXE THROWING target practice. That is a girl who just threw the axe - it is in mid-air. We saw her time and again hit the block of wood right in the middle! Don't mess with her!

Musicians inside the walls of the castle. The metal fence along the top of the wall is so you can walk up there safely.

The people in costumes came from all over Switzerland and they actually camped out on the castle grounds for this 2 day fair.

A Medieval procession entering the castle over the draw bridge.

Tents set up along the outer wall.

View from the catwalk.

Outer wall view of Montebello and then you can see Castlegrande in the background, which is up on a huge rock in the middle of Bellizona.

Castlegrande and the grounds around the castle taken from Montebello

View looking into Montebello castle. The large tower in the middle housed the museum.

View down the valley from Montebello. In the distance is Lake Maggiore and Locarno. There are beams of sun on the lake and the valley.

The medieval campground. They were also cooking their own food as would be done in that period.

Watching the horse activities

This horse is down on purpose. At one point they had 2 horses lie down and their handlers stroked them and calmed them where they stayed down for about 5-10 minutes.

Running to capture the ring