A quartiere (plural: quartieri) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns. The word is from quarto, or fourth, and is thus properly used only for towns divided into four neighborhoods; from it is derived the English word "quarter" to mean a neighborhood.
Other Italian towns with other than four official neighborhoods are frequently divided into analogous terzieri (3) or sestieri (6); some towns merely refer to these neighborhoods by the non-number-specific rioni. Quartieri, terzieri, sestieri, rioni, and their analogues are usually no longer administrative divisions of these towns, but historical and traditional communities, most often seen in their sharpest relief in the town's annual palio. A terziere (plural: terzieri) is a subdivision of certain Italian towns. ... A sestiere (plural sestieri) is one of the primary divisions of Venice. ... Rione (plural: rioni) is the name given to a ward in several Italian cities, the best-known of which is Rome. ... Palio is the name given in Italy to an annual athletic contest, very often of a historical character, pitting the neighbourhoods of a town or the hamlets of a comune against each other. ...
Each Quartiere has its own territory inside the walls of the village, its own headquarters, its own emblem and flag, its own colours, and a team of archers.
Each Quartiere prepares for a night of feasting and chanting in their neighbourhood at the traditional dinner to celebrate the tournament and to cheer the archers to victory.
A delicious lunch is offered in each Quartiere, guests of honour being those who have participated in the morning pageant, including the archers.
This festival is not as grand a spectacle as La Sagra, but it is filled with pageantry and colour, and it is equally as passionate for the four Quartiere and their archers.
The trumpets and drums echo between the buildings and, reaching the heart of Pianello and then the other Quartiere, the Banditore reads from a scroll commanding Pianello to be present at the tournament.
Dressed in 14th century medieval costumes, representatives of the noble families and Magistrates of the Comune of Montalcino and the four Quartiere, parade through the village to the Piazza, then to the Church of Sant Egidio for the blessing, and finally arrive at the archery range below the ancient fortress.
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