Pétanque (French pronunciation: [petk]; Occitan: Petanca [petak]) is a type of boules in which the goal is to toss hollow metal balls as close as possible to a little wooden ball called a cochonnet (roughly “piglet”) or jack while standing inside a beginning circle with both feet on the ground. It’s also known as a Bouchon (meaning “cork”) or le petit (“little one”). Find out what Frenchmen feel on Amonavis.fr about this game.
The game is typically played on gravel or hard ground, but Players can also play it on grass, sand, or other surfaces. Bocce and bowls are two similar games. The current version of the game was created in 1907 in La Ciotat, in the southern French region of Provence. Consider checking sports outlets for people’s opinions.
The English and French names pétanque are derived from the term pès tancats [ps takats], which means “feet together” or, more precisely, “feet moored” in the Provençal dialect of the Occitan language.
Earlier in the 6th century BC, the Ancient Greeks were known to play a game of tossing money, then flat stones, and finally stone balls, termed spheristics, in an attempt to get them to travel as far as possible.
The Ancient Romans changed the game, who added a target that had to be reached as closely as possible. Roman troops and sailors brought this Roman variety to Provence. People playing this game, crouching down to measure the points, are depicted in a Roman sepulchre in Florence. Wooden balls replaced the stone balls with nails to give them more weight after the Romans.
The game was called globurum in the Middle Ages, but it was more widely known as ‘boules,’ or balls, and Everyone played it all over Europe.
King Henry III of England outlawed the pastime for his archers, while Charles IV and Charles V of France outlawed it for commoners in the 14th century. The prohibition was only removed in the 17th century.
In England, the game was known as “bowls” or “lawn bowling” by the 19th century; it was known as “boules” in France and was played throughout the country. Honoré de Balzac depicted a match in La Comédie Humaine, and Meissonnier painted two paintings depicting people playing the game.
In England, the game was known as “bowls” or “lawn bowling” by the 19th century; it was known as “boules” in France and was played throughout the country. Honoré de Balzac depicted a match in La Comédie Humaine, and Meissonnier painted two paintings depicting people playing the game.
It had changed into jeu provençal (or boule lyonnaise) in the South of France, which was identical to today’s pétanque except the field was more significant, and players ran three steps before throwing the ball. The game was played in villages around Provence, mainly on land squares shaded by plane trees. The brothers Ernest and Joseph Pitiot, owners of a café in La Ciotat, staged the first pétanque competition using the new rules in 1910. Following that, the game exploded in popularity, quickly becoming the most popular type of boules. The Fédération Internationale de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal (FIPP) was created in Marseille in 1958 and has around 600,000 members from 52 countries (2002).
In 1959, the first World Championships were held. Faro in 2000, Monaco in 2001, Grenoble in 2002, 2004, 2006, Geneva in 2003, Brussels 2005, and Pattaya. Thailand hosted the most recent championships in 2007. In 2007, fifty-two teams from 50 countries competed.
Even though the Confédération Mondiale des Sports de Boules was founded in 1985 by three international boules organizations, the Olympic committee has been lobbying to include pétanque in the summer Olympics since 1985. It is currently not an Olympic sport.