Calcio Fiorentino Calcio Fiorentino Calcio fiorentino (also known as calcio storico "historic football") is an early form of football and rugby that originated in 16th-century Italy. Once widely played, the sport is thought to have started in the "Piazza Santa Croce" in Florence. There it became known as the "giuoco del calcio fiorentino" ("Florentine kick game") or simply "calcio"; which is now also the name for association football in the Italian language. The game may have started as a revival of the Roman sport of harpastum. Calcio was reserved for rich aristocrats who played every night between Epiphany and Lent. Even popes,
Calcio Fiorentino attended a game of "bridge fighting" – put on in his honor during a visit to Venice. The king is recorded as saying: "Too small to be a real war and too cruel to be a game". Interest in "Calcio" waned in the early 17th century. However, in 1930 it was reorganized as a game in Kingdom of Italy, under Benito Mussolini. It was widely played by amateurs in streets and squares using handmade balls of cloth or animal skin. Today, three matches are played each year in "Piazza Santa Croce" in Florence in the 3rd week of June. A