“O studiar con impegno ed essere uomini o a Empoli volar per Corpus Domini” (Either study with dedication and be men or fly to Empoli for Corpus Christi).

Every Empoli native has heard this phrase at least once. A phrase relating to a traditional local festival that has been celebrated for centuries on Corpus Christi Day and ends with the launching of a (dummy!) donkey from the belltower of the Collegiate Church of Sant’Andrea.

The actual donkey’s flight, eagerly awaited and celebrated every year by thousands of people who throng the town centre, is the culmination of a week during which numerous medieval-themed events and contests between the city’s various districts, organised by the Compagnia di Sant’Andrea, take place.

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