he Palio of Feltre takes place every year, during the first week-end of August. The historical boroughs committee organises parades of hundreds of people dressed in medieval costumes which bring us back to 1404, when Feltre offered itself to the Venetian ambassadors in an act of alliance and devotion towards the Venetian Republic. During these days Feltre recalls the past event. The town is animated with colours and thousand of visitors are attracted by the sounds of drums, by historical parades during which banners and flags bearing the coat of arms of the pertaining boroughs wave in the air. Horse- and archery races take place in a competition for a painted banner, symbol of the Palio of Feltre. The Palio's origins are to be found in the historical trace designed by Antonio Cambruzzi, a franciscan friar who lived during the second half of the 17th century : "Anno nativitatis eiusdem millesimo quadrigentesimo quarto, indictione duodecima, die quintodecimo mensis junii, ora sexta dei." "

hese are some of the details narrated by Cambruzzi on the day when Feltre offered itself to Bartolomeo Nani, Ambassador of the Venetian Republic.

ccording to the documentation kept in the town archives, the 15th June 1404 was a fortunate and holy day. As a matter of fact, Feltre had just come out of a difficult period of wars, danger, ruin and therefore its entry in the Venetian Republic had been hailed as a favourable occasion of peace and prosperity. The noble patrician Vettore Muffoni and Bartolomeo Nani undersigned the donation act allowing Feltre to gain the Serenissima Republic's patronage.