On the first Sunday of September in Alatri is the Palio delle Quattro Porte (Festival of the Four Gates) in which you play the famous team game to throw cheese, a competition similar to the classic game of ‘ruzzola’.
The cheese game consists of launching large blocks of well-seasoned cheese with a weight of 20-25 kg each of which has to roll along a path that ends at the Cloister of St. Francis.
Participants in the competition are dressed in costumes representing the four city gates (Porta San Pietro, Portiti Porta, Porta San Francesco and Porta San Nicola).
The teams are composed of two launchers, two rollers who are those that wrap the rope around the cheese, called ‘zagaglia’, and 'vessiliero' (flag bearer) carrying the coat of arms of the district.
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