Strike a Pose!

On the first weekend in August, the town of Sinj, Croatia hosts the Sinjska Alka, an equestrian event and knights’ tournament that has been taking place annually for more than 300 years.

The competition requires that costumed knights on horseback charge toward a hanging metal ring and hit it with their swords. While there were once many medieval-style knights’ tournaments in the coastal and inland areas of Croatia up until the 19th century, the Sinjska Alka is the only remaining such event.

Due to the historic importance of the event and its role in ensuring cultural continuity from generation to generation, the Sinjska Alka was in 2010 added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Sinjska Alka commemorates a 1715 victory in Sinj during the Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War, also called the Second Morean War. Sinj was under the control of the Republic of Venice, which occupied the coast and hinterland of Dalmatia. Since it was in the hinterlands and close to Ottoman territory, Sinj was a target of Ottomans intent on retaking Dalmatia.

In early August 1715, 700 Croats from Sinj, along with a smaller number of Venetian soldiers, managed to hold off a siege of 60,000 Ottomans.

The townspeople believed that the Madonna of Sinj, a 16th-century painting of the Virgin Mary, helped drive the Ottomans away. Tradition holds that the first alka tournament was held in her honor on August 15—the festival of the Assumption of the Virgin— in 1715 and has been observed every year since.

Now held the first weekend in August that includes a Sunday, the Sinjska Alka sees between 11 and 17 alkari—the name for the knights—riding their horses at full speed towards an alka—a hanging ring made of two concentric iron circles. With their spears, which are 3-meter long pointed lances, they attempt to hit the inside circle of the ring.

The rules are complicated and strict, with riders disqualified if they lose any part of their gear during their charge to the alka.

The event is spread over three days, with preliminary competitions in the first two days. The alkar with the most points at the end is the winner of the tournament. The final and most important alka, along with a grand celebration are held on Sunday, the last day of the event.

Townspeople, especially the families of the alkari, participate by sewing costumes, crafting and repairing weapons, and preparing special foods for the festivities.

The Sunday event begins with a procession of alkari and their squires, as well as a rider-less horse, called the edek, symbolic of the horse allegedly taken from the Pasha (the Ottoman commander) during the 1715 siege. A banner of the Madonna of Sinj, the Croatian flag, and other costumed participants form part of the procession, which passes through a throng of thousands of spectators.

Winning the tournament is, of course, a great honor for an alkar. He takes a victory ride through town with the Croatian flag attached to his spear and his chivalry is celebrated all year long, until the next contest decides a new winner.