Today, in the Sala delle Lupe of the Town Hall, in the presence of the Deputy MayorAndrea Corsi, the Mayor of San GinesioGiuliano Ciabocco and the Rector of the Magistrate of the ContradeClaudio Rossi, a meeting to remember the historic friendship that binds Siena to the city of the Marche.
A solidarity pact born in the 15th century, which has been renewed for some time now 57 years in the event “The Return of the Exiles”, on a three-yearly basis, and which this year due to the COVID-19 emergency could not take place.
“Despite the postponement – underlined the Deputy Mayor Andrea Corsi – we still wanted to find a way, an opportunity not to forget this bond that unites us. The Mayor of San Ginesio is a friend of Siena. Elected concurrently with our administration, in fact he began his mandate together with us. Today, in a normal time, we wouldn't have been here because we were busy with the Palio. The world has changed, but not this relationship, this is why with our friends from the municipality of San Ginesio we shared the idea of sending the message that the pandemic is not so decisive as to erase the memory of this history. Different forms and simpler ways to forcefully say that covid has not affected everything”.
“This is one of the oldest and most prestigious re-enactments in the Marche region – Ciabocco then underlined – not so much and not only because of its historical roots, as much and above all for the presence of the Municipality of Siena in the procession, accompanied by the Banner, from the clarions, by the drums and the figures, in period costume.And that today, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, it reaffirms itself here, on this occasion, with the belief that we can meet next June 2021 to relive the events of the three hundred exiles and the Sienese Crucifix of which we have news since 1730 brought by them after having obtained the forgiveness of the Ginesini. I do not hide a particular emotion in thanking the Municipality and also those who, always give, is close to us like Rita Bianciardi and the Magistrate of the Contrade for the availability shown and for this press conference because it is a further demonstration of affection towards San Ginesio after having already contributed to the rebirth of the village in the post-2016 earthquake″.
“The particular year we are experiencing – concluded the Rector of the Magistrate of the Contrade – it also deprived us of being able to commemorate, as usual, the anniversary of the return to their homeland of the three hundred people from Ginesi who took refuge in Siena in the middle of 1400, a story that tells how attachment to one's territory has been able to overcome even ferocious divisions and conflicts. The high civic sense present in the city of Siena, the will of the exiles to return to their native land and the ability to forgive their fellow citizens allowed us to write a page of history that can still teach us all today”.
The story of this strong bond between the two cities tells, indeed, of the three hundred Ginesi residents who between the year 1450 and the year 1460 they were exiled on charges of sedition, for having attempted to bring San Ginesio back under the government of the Dukes of Varano, Gentlemen of Camerino, from whose tyrannical rule the city had freed itself in 1434. The exiles found refuge in Siena; there they joined the civic guard, they distinguished themselves for their diligence and loyalty to such an extent that Sienese ambassadors were sent to San Ginesio, who would plead the cause of the exiles and obtain their repatriation. The cause was won thanks to the eloquence of the Sienese orators and the civic spirit shown by the people of Ginesi.. The three hundred returned to their homeland, accompanied by Sienese notables, bringing the gift of two symbols that distinguish a well-ordered community: the Crucifix, to be venerated in the Collegiate church, as testimony to the commitment to peace, and the Statutes of the City of Siena, on which to standardize the good governance of the Land of San Ginesio.
The first edition of the historical re-enactment of The Return of the Exiles took place on 9 June of 1963 as part of the Triennial Feasts of the Most Holy Crucifix, of which we have news since 1730, when San Ginesio was shaken by a very strong earthquake which surprised the population in the church of Santa Maria in Vepretis, while he was in veneration of the ancient Sienese Crucifix, carried there in procession. Contrary to what happened throughout the Marche, in San Ginesio the earthquake caused minor damage and spared human lives. Credit for this was attributed to the Crucifix and it was then decided that every three years the sacred image should be carried in solemn procession for eight days to the most important churches in the country.
For the occasion, the deputy mayor gave Mayor Ciabocco a parchment made free of charge by Stefano Pellati with the writing: “To strengthen a friendship stronger than the calamity that has characterized these times, he Communities of Siena and San Ginesio today ideally embrace each other”.
source: Picchionews
