Montico's...The history

To better understand how the International Circus Festival of Latina, which had it’s first edition in 1999, came to exist, one needs to go back to the birth of Giulio Montico in 1888…

It all started when Giulio Montico was born on the 8th of August, 1888, in San Vito al Tagliamento (UD), son of a Carabiniere Officer and his young wife, who had a great passion for music and the theatre.

Giulio was an extrovert and full of energy from an early age.
His mother, who was busy with theatrical tours, decided that it would be in his best interests to attend a boarding school, where he would be able to study better and more profitably. Thus started a long period of study for the young Giulio, who was a confirmed animal lover and was also fascinated by street performers; when he had some free time he would often spend it watching them performing in the village square.

In 1902, at the age of 14, Giulio, fed up with academic responsibilites and reluctant to suppress his natural inclination towards the life of a performer, ran away from school and joined a circus. Thus he embarked on his circus career, becoming a proficient juggler and equilibrist.

In 1908 he fell in love with one of his circus companions, Giulietta Caveagna (b.22.02.1878 – d.21.02.1961), daughter of the owner of the “Caveagna Circus”, one of the most famous of the time. Within a short time she became his companion in life and in his circus career.
In 1909, with the love and support of Giulietta, and with his own ingenious ideas, he started up the “Montico Circus”, which soon proved to be a successful venture all over Italy.
In 1913 the couple’s first child, Rosina, was born.

While the circus continued from strength to strength on its tours, in 1915 war broke out, and Giulio Montico signed up and was given the rank of Sergeant Major, serving on the Austrian front.
The war saw his circus break up, with the animals and structures requisitioned for other purposes.


Meanwhile, during the war, Giulio and Giulietta had another child, Antonio, born on the 5th of March, 1916. Antonio appeared to combine the ingeniousness of his father with the passionate nature of his mother.

After the War ended in 1919 Giulio, unperturbed, and ever more enthusiastic, started his circus again from scratch, combining his efforts with another circus family, the Casartelli.
Thus was born the hugely successful Montico-Casartelli Circus.
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In 1920 Giulio Montico, while continuing his normal circus activities, organised a series of charity shows to help the poorer inhabitants of the area of Padua.
In recognition of his charity work, the Green Cross of Padova bestowed an award on Giulio for his selfless work for the less well-off of Padua.

The Montico-Casartelli Circus continued to work in Italy until the start of 1922.
In March of that year the company decided to embark on a long International tour that took them to Malta, Rhodes, Tripoli, and various Egyptian cities as well as other North African cities, up till 1930.
Towards the end of 1930 the partnership between the Casartelli and Montico families ended.

Giulio Montico continued with his own circus, but in 1932 Giulio, due to bad health, had to pass the reins to his young son Antonio.
Antonio was only 16 at the time, and found himself in charge of one of the largest and most famous circus families of the 1930s, but he took on the challenge with gusto, while continuing to heed the sound advice of his father.

Once again the shadow of war interrupted the family activity, and in 1935 Antonio joined the Army and left for the African Campaign.

This last War had a terrible effect on the fortunes of the Montico circus which, without the guidance of Antonio, and with Giulio gravely ill, was forced to close, and the family lost everything during  World War II.
On the 7th of February 1945, Giulio Montico died.
His death marked the passing of an era.

Antonio Montico had, in the meantime, married  Bianca Salvi, with whom he was to have 6 children:
Giulio (b 24 September 1940), who was given the name of his grandfather;
Gaetano (b 19 January 1946);
Giancarlo (b 28 July 1947)
Giorgina (b 12.10 1950)
Giorgio (b 28 April 1958)
Giulietta (b 8 August 1960).

After the end of the war Antonio was unable to stay away from his passion for the circus. A destiny and a love of horses and riding, which constituted part of the Montico DNA, and he decided to renew the family business and opened a new Montico circus.
The first elephant was bought in 1955, followed by the first lions in 1958.
Antonio decided to hand over the care and training of the animals to his eldest son, Giulio, who at 18 became the animal tamer of the circus.
It was Giulio who had first showed the same extrovert and passionate character as his grandfather. He was inventive, smart and sensitive, and always open and ready to learn new things.

In 1962, during a tour date in Guglionesi (CB), a huge fire destroyed the entire circus. Giulio risked his life trying to save the animals.
This last sad episode, among other things, marked the end of the Montico Circus, which closed for good in 1964.
To guarantee a future for his family, Antonio Montico bought a Fair, with which he travelled with success all over Europe and North Africa, until 1969.

In the 1970s the (by now) large Montico family breaks up into its various parts with each family choosing its own direction in life:
Gaetano became owner of the ‘Circo Italiano nel Mondo’
Giancarlo went to work in a bank
Giorgina died suddenly in 1989
Giorgio became co-owner of the ‘Circo di Spagna’
Giulietta continuefd working in the world of travelling fairs

Giulio Montico, with the love of the circus in his blood, decided to keep working as a performer. He continued with his artistic career in some of Italy’s most renowned cicuses (Orfei, Togni, Medrano) until 1976.
In 1977, for the love of his wife Mirella (who he had married on the 16th of November 1966) and their family, Giulio decided to put down roots in the city of Latina. A city mostly known to the world as having been founded and built in the Fascist era, and which had few, if any, connections to the circus world. But to Giulio Montico and his wife Mirella Iuliano it appeared to be a perfect place to bring up their four children: Fabio, Fabrizio, Fabiola and Flavia.
The Monticos became one of the most hard-working and well-known families of the area, and became involved in diverse circus-related activities.

Time passes but for Giulio the circus always stayed in his heart, difficult to forget or let go of…

In 1999 he had a stroke of genius and, supported by the whole family, decided to return to his roots and the sparkling world of the circus. The only veto imposed by his family was that he didn’t resume his performance career.

Thus Giulio and his family embarked on a new adventure in the form of the popular International Circus Festival “City of Latina”, a reality that continues to this day with a huge annual competitive showcase for new and varied talents and for the delight of circus-lovers everywhere.