Poggio a Caiano I's tennis court (1543) intact but no longer in use. The "palatoia" (as the court was referred to in Tuscany - elsewhere known as "pallacorda") was built for Cosimo I at the same time as his court at Palazzo Pitti. The "tennis" of the Italian Renaissance was hugely popular at court and in the streets as in France where the sport is known as "jeu de paume". "Real tennis" (as it is called today), which requires a customised court with elaborate interior playing surfaces, is the model for modern tennis although the sport played in the Renaissance continues to be
Skittles (sport) the game. The "jeu de quilles de neuf" ("nine-pin skittle game") of France, also known simply as "quilles de 9" or just "quilles", is a complicated variant with similarities to both British skittles and pétanque. It is popular only in the southwest of the country. It is an indoor game which is played on a hard-packed surface. The skittles are placed on a square court, each resting on a round piece of wood called "pitere" or "pitet", 2.20 m apart from each other. A skittle measures about 96 cm and weighs 3 kg, and is made of beech wood. The