Since 2011, 22 July is the day of commemoration of the Nándorfehérvár triumph.Continue reading
President of the Republic Katalin Novák and her husband István Veres met the Croatian President and his wife at the Alka Festival near Sinj, in Croatia, reports Magyar Nemzet.
They took part in the Sinjska Alka Medieval Knight Games, the tradition-rich games of valor that have been held for more than three centuries, at the invitation of Croatian President Zoran Milanović.
The Sinjska Alka Festival commemorates the victory of the Battle of Sinj in 1715,
when the defenders of the town fought heroically to stop the Ottoman conquerors who were advancing towards Europe in southern Dalmatia, wrote the head of state on her social media page.
Sinjska Alka Festival commemorates a Croatian–Venetian victory in the Ottoman–Venetian war on August 14, 1715, in which the local Christian population of around 700 Croats in cooperation with a smaller number of Venetians managed to defend Sinj against 60,000 Ottoman soldiers led by Mehmed-paša Ćelić. Photo via Facebook/Novák Katalin
The event, which takes place in a town 40 kilometers north of Split, was inscribed by UNESCO on the World Intangible Heritage List in 2010, and is now the only game of its kind in Europe.
Every year, on the first weekend in August, the people of Sinj commemorate the 1715 battle in which a 60,000-strong invading Turkish army was forced to retreat by five hundred Croatian soldiers.
At the 160th meter of the 320-meter-long race course, a 3.3-meter-high alka, or hoop representing two concentric circles, is suspended crosswise. The outer circle is 13 centimeters in diameter and the inner circle is 3.5 centimeters: the inside circle is the one into which the rider on the galloping horse must find his way with his three-meter-long head. Each hit is marked by the firing of a mortar of the era, and
the one who scores the most hits is awarded the title of Alka’s Knight of Sinj for one year, until the next games.
The Alka Knights Society was registered in 1833 and renewed in 1997, together with its statutes. The games have been presided over by rulers, heads of state, and generals, including Emperor Franz Joseph (1830-1916) of Austria and King of Hungary, the late President Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia and founder of independent Croatia, and since 1992, the current Croatian Head of State, according to www.alka.hr.
Via Magyar Nemzet, Featured photo via Facebook/Novák Katalin