Preceded by a military parade in 17th century costume, this competition is of ancient origin, perhaps as far back as medieval times. The tradition was picked up again during the mid-1930s and pits the quarters to the north of the Arno river, the so-called Tramontana, against those to the south, the Mezzogiorno. Each team is composed of six squads which face-off two at a time. Each squad has twenty members and they must push a cart weighing seven tons, set on a fifty-metre track, to the other side of the ponte di Mezzo bridge. The squad that wins the most times is the victor.