Since the 13th century Venice was famously divided between two rival factions: the Castellani, who wore a red hat and scarf, representing Eastern Venice and the Nicolotti, with a black hat and scarf, representing the Western part of the city. To settle a major religious dispute in the Middle-Ages, they planned to meet on this bridge, the Ponte dei Pugni, the Bridge of Fists and sort it out once and for all. The Castellani won, but it didn’t stop there, and fist fights would continue as sporting events, with judges sitting at the foot of the bridge, scoring points and checking for infringments. There were three types of fighting: Boxing, where the first contender to lose blood lost the fight. Then there was the ‘frota’ which was a big brawl with almost no restrictions, and finally the ‘orderly war’, where the goal was to throw as many of the opponents as possible off the bridge and into the water. Until recently, bridges were made of wood and had no siderails. The whole thing came to an end in 1705, when a fight spiralled out of control and some contenders began using knives, stones and sticks, which were against the rules. They were separated by the priest of the nearby church of San Barnaba, who came running out waving a cross in the air, screaming in a condemnatory frenzy. You will still see young Venetian boys throwing a punch or two as they cross the bridge. Locals still come here everyday, if only to pick up some fruit and vegetables at the greengrocer boat.
