Burraco. Reverse side of Italy Italian playing cards

Throughout the entire educational process of learning Spanish, I somehow did not think about such a thing as gambling, in the sense of whether Spaniards are gambling.

It is known that every resident of the country considers it his direct civic duty to buy a Christmas lottery ticket and, with bated breath, “sticks” to the TV screen on the appointed day.

But what about other gambling games? ( los juegos de azar) I didn’t know... until a certain moment.

Once during one of our classes our teacher from Spain brought a deck of cards, Spanish of course. It turns out that nothing human is alien to them, and the Spaniards play them too.

Have you ever played Spanish cards or even seen them?

And there is something to see!

La baraja española

Spanish deck, or as the Spaniards themselves call it la baraja española It’s not at all like the one we’re used to; it usually consists of 48 cards, cartas o naipes, there are truncated versions of 40 cards without eights and nines, which is what the teacher brought us, there is also a version of 50 cards with two jokers ( comodines).

Cards are numbered from 1 to 12, where 10, 11 and 12 are the highest cards of the deck: 10 is jack ( la sota), 11 – horse ( el caballo), 12 – king ( el rey), which, by the way, is always depicted standing, and the one is called an ace ( as).

But there is no queen in the deck! As our teacher joked: " Es machismo!".

suits ( palos) also four (well, at least something familiar): this is gold or gold coins ( oro), cups ( copas), swords ( espadas) and clubs or clubs ( bastos).
Suit in Spanish is called el palo.

In the 15th-16th centuries, as evidenced by the first historical mentions of card decks and games, Spain did not yet have a single system and standard of cards; there were many variations with different suits and quantities. Somewhat later, it was possible to bring them, so to speak, to a common denominator, thus coins began to personify trade and its representatives, cups became a symbol of the clergy (although the Catholic Church was not delighted), swords symbolized nobility and knighthood, as well as their inherent valor and honor, and the clubs meant the class of commoners.

The cards were made by hand and were often black and white; later they began to be painted, and only rich people could afford such a colored deck.

In modern decks, in the classic version, there is a frame-symbol around the picture on each card, which can also be used to identify the suit: around coins it is continuous, around cups it is interrupted once, around swords - twice, and around clubs - three times at the top and bottom of the card.

This symbol is called la pinta and from it some expressions originate: " tienes buena pinta" - means that you got good cards. But if they say " pintan bastos", by the way, not only about cards - it means that things are bad, or even in general, "things are a disaster!

Let's play!

Having dealt with the cards, we sat down to play. The teacher quickly explained the rules to us, and we enthusiastically joined the world of excitement. The game turned out to be simple, but exciting, and we really got stuck for half the lesson.

It was called Mentiroso(in Spain) or Desconfio(in Latin American countries), the name speaks for itself.

The entire deck is dealt and the real bluff begins ( echarse un farol/jugada de farol). The first participant places 1, 2 or even 3 cards of the same value face down on the table (in the Spanish version of this game, suits are not taken into account, but in the Latin American version, on the contrary, suits are played, but the value of the card is not taken into account), and calls them, for example: " Dos sotas". Then they walk in a circle, and the next participant, if he has a card of this value, can throw it on top and say: " Una sota más", - then the turn goes to the third participant.

But the most interesting thing is that the first participant could say this, but put down completely different cards, and so could the next one. The third participant, although the second one too, may not add a card, but say: " No te creo, pongamos las cartas boca arriba“, - or just shout out: “¡ Mentira!" If there were cards there that corresponded to the name that was spoken out loud to those who walked, then the “disbelievers” takes them for himself, and if he revealed the deception, then the previous participant takes them. If someone accumulates 4 identical cards, then he can throw them in. The one who has cards left in his hands loses.

A very intriguing moment when one of the participants throws, for example, " dos cincos", the next one is right there" dos cincos más"and the third, to "finish off" completely" un cinco más", and your next move, and you realize that there are only four fives in the deck, and one of them is a hundred percent liar. But you have to choose! The players grin sarcastically, their eyes light up, excitement...
Oh this game is definitely worth learning how to play. Moreover, there are so many cold winter evenings ahead. Why not brighten up a couple of them with such an interesting pastime?
In addition to this, there are many other equally interesting and exciting games, and having mastered a few, you can pleasantly surprise your Spanish-speaking friends. And also, when returning from a trip to Spain, you can bring as a gift, in addition to the typical magnets, la baraja española.

P.S. And here is a short video about the game Mentiroso. So to speak, it is better to see once than to read five hundred times.

And here is its Latin American version:

These are the Spanish cards.

How did Italian playing cards originate, how many varieties of playing cards are there in Italy, how do they differ from each other: read about this and much more in our article.

Playing cards are an ancient pastime that continues to be popular today. There are countless games that can be played with playing cards, and each country, region or even locality has invented something of its own, in addition to the well-known ones, such as poker or preference.

Today we will talk about Italian playing cards or the number 1 way of spending time in Italian companies in bars or at a round table on family holidays.

To trace the history of the appearance of the first deck of cards on the Italian peninsula, let us turn to the history of the appearance of cards in general.

Where did playing cards come from?

The invention of playing cards has been attributed to whomever: the Indians, the Greeks, and the Egyptians. However, until now archaeologists have not found samples of playing cards belonging to the ancient inhabitants of the planet: in those days, as history shows, people played with dice in the form of hexagonal cubes.

Thus, experts decided that, perhaps, maps really arose much later, namely in the 12th century, and humanity owes their appearance to the aristocrats of China. Being very developed and inventive people, the court aristocrats discovered in drawing small pictures with allegorical images of animals and birds, first as aesthetic fun, then as a convenient way to convey secrets, and even later as an excellent opportunity to have fun.

Vintage Chinese cards. Photo: ipromessiviaggi.blogspot.it

There is another popular version, which relates more to the history of fortune telling Tarot cards. Occultists claim that they were invented by the priests of Ancient Egypt, who recorded their knowledge on 78 tablets made of pure gold. The cards were called "Arcanas", among which there were "minor" and "senior". Later, 56 “Minor Arcana” formed a playing deck, and the rest, the “Major” ones, became the basis of fortune-telling Tarot cards (from the ancient Egyptian “ta rosh” - “the path of kings.”)

Whether this is true or not is not reliably known and has not been proven by scientists.

In any case, maps appeared in Europe in the 14th century. In 1392, the clown of Charles VI, King of France, created for him his own card deck, which contained 32 cards: there were no 4 queens, which of course would have been indecent.

Further history tells that in 1367 cards were already banned in Germany, and in 1467 the papal envoy in Bern, Germany, watched with horror in his eyes the monks playing at the walls of the local monastery, which he immediately reported to His Eminence. One can only guess about the rate at which card games are spreading, despite the bans.

German playing cards, around 1430. Photo ipromessiviaggi.blogspot.it

And in the next century, famous Italian artists began to depict Madonnas not only on canvas, but also on maps.

At the end of the 14th century, playing cards were a great luxury: good copies were made by artists and on individual orders. The main types of cards - Italian, French and German - developed at the end of the 15th century and they all had differences in both suits and figures.

French Tarot cards, early 18th century. Photo: ipromessiviaggi.blogspot.it

Italian playing cards

Italian cards belong to the “Latin” (Spanish) playing cards; they were brought to the Apennines at the end of the 14th century by crusaders from the countries of the East.

A deck of Italian cards typically consists of 40 playing cards and 4 different suits: Otherwise, playing cards in Italy vary greatly in design and patterns. In some regions, playing cards of the Spanish type with suits that are strange for a Russian person are widespread: “swords”, “cups” (bowls), “pentacles” (coins, denarii, discs) and “wands” (bludgeons, clubs); in other areas, cards of the French type with suits that “caress” our ears have “taken root” - hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades; in others, they play with German-type cards with the suits “shovels,” “clubs,” “hearts,” and “diamonds.”

Vintage Neapolitan maps. Photo: ipromessiviaggi.blogspot.it

In order not to get confused, historians have divided all the types of playing cards used by the Italians into subtypes. It turns out that depending on the location of a certain region of Italy and its historical role, the Italians inherited different types of playing cards.

Prototypes of Italian playing cards

• Northern Italian type

These cards are derived from the Latin type of playing cards. The suits in these cards are called Spade (swords), Coppe (cups), Denari (pentacles), Bastoni (clubs), which look like scimitars, sceptres, denarii and maces respectively. There are 40, 52 or 36 cards in a Northern Italian deck (rarely).

This type of playing cards includes cards of provinces, and (bergamasche, bolognesi, bresciane, trevisane (o venete), triestine, trentine). This type of playing cards is common in the northern and northeastern regions.

Deck of Bergamasque cards. Photo: ipromessiviaggi.blogspot.it

• Spanish type

These cards also have 4 suits - Spade (swords), Coppe (cups), Denari (pentacles), Bastoni (clubs), which look accordingly. There are only 40 playing cards in a Spanish deck. The names of the suits in this type of card, according to historians, come from the class divisions during the Middle Ages: knights, peasants, merchants and clergy.

The following playing cards belong to this type of cards:

Deck of Sicilian cards. Photo: shopasking.com

• French type

The four suits of the French deck are most understandable to us: these are spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds. Initially, the suits of the French deck symbolized the attributes of a knight - a spear (spades), a sword (clubs), a shield (hearts) and a coat of arms (diamonds). They arose as a result of the transformation of the ancient suits of the “Latin deck” - “swords”, “cups”, “pentacles” and “wands” (clubs, clubs). The cards depict the familiar figures of queens, kings and jacks.

This type includes Genoese, Milanese (Lombardian), Florentine (Tuscan) and Piedmontese maps. French-type decks in Italy consist of 36 (Genoese or Piedmontese), 40 or 52 cards.

Deck of ancient Piedmontese cards. Photo comequandofuorinonpiove.blogspot.com

• German type

The four suits of the German deck are called acorns, bells, leaves, hearts; Such cards are common in the province, where the deck is called "Salzburg" and. German decks sold in Italy contain 36 or 40 cards.

Deck of Trento cards. Photo cardgame-club.it

Types of regional maps of Italy

Maps of Abruzzo (Abruzzese)

The Abruzzo cards are not a traditional deck that originated in Abruzzo, but a variant of the Neapolitan cards. They have been produced since 2010 by Dal Negro. This is a 40 card Spanish style deck. The only difference between the Abbruzzese cards and the more common deck of Italian cards is their certain features. The four aces symbolize the four provinces of Abruzzo, in particular, the ace of diamonds symbolizes the city of L'Aquila, it depicts a crowned eagle. The king of the denarius suit has the features of Frederick II of Swabia. The suit of Cups is dedicated to the province of Teramo, and the “swords” to Chieti.

Maps of Abruzzo. Photo cardgame-club.it

Bergamo cards

Bergamo maps are maps of the traditional Northern Italian style. The mother of "swords" is also called "MARGI" in them. The deck consists of 40 cards with double-headed figures, the cards have a size of 50 × 94 mm. The aces of the clubs bear the motto "VINCERAI". The Aces of Cups, like the maps of Trentino and Brescia, feature fountains inspired by the coat of arms of the Sforza family. The denarii are red and black, and the aces of this suit have a large yellow and orange circle on them. In addition, 4 additional cards can be found in decks from various manufacturers.

Maps of Bergamo. Photo wikipedia.org

Bologna cards

Bologna cards are Northern Italian style cards, the size of which is the narrowest and longest in Italy - 49x104 mm. Such cards are most common in Central Italy. They originated from the Italian fortune-telling Tarot cards, from where they removed jacks, queens and cards in denominations from 8 to 10, adding cards in denominations from 2 to 5. Thus, a modern deck of Bolognese cards consists of 40 cards, the images of numbers and figures on which are double-sided (except ace "denarius").

Maps of Bologna. Photo wikipedia.org

Maps of Brescia

This is the only regional deck in Italy that exists in a single version - 52 cards, since only one card game is played with such cards: "cicera bigia".

Brescian maps are narrow, with a length/width ratio of more than 1:2, and hold the title of the tiniest maps of Italy: their size is 43x88 mm. Numerous cards in the deck have “nicknames”: for example, the jack of “cups” is called “Fant cagnì” or “Fant Gop”, the two of “swords” is called “Felepa sensa pei” or “Figa de fer”, the two of “denarius” is “Le bale del "orso", two "clubs" - "Figa de legn", etc.

Maps of Brescia. Photo wikipedia.org

Genoese maps

These types of regional maps are common throughout Liguria. The Genoese deck originated from the French one and these cards are most similar to traditional French ones (Parisian style).

The size of the cards in the deck is 58x88 mm, the total number of cards is 40 (however, there are also versions of 36 cards and 52 cards for the card games Baccarat and Chemin de fer).

Maps of Genoa. Photo cardgame-club.it

Milan cards

Milanese cards also originated from the French deck. Card size - 50x94 mm, total number of cards in the deck - 40; The cards have a beautiful design, with “two-faced” figures and are most similar to a “Swiss” style deck. The jack of clubs bears the symbol of Milan on the chest.

These cards are played in Eastern Lombardy.

Maps of Milan. Photo cardgame-club.it

Neapolitan cards

The Neapolitan deck evolved from a Spanish type deck. These are the regional cards that are most widespread throughout Italy and are played in most regions of the Italian south. The structure of the deck follows the Sicilian deck of the 19th century. Some cards have their own nicknames: for example, the three “clubs” are called Gatto Mammone, the king “denarius” is called matta.

The deck consists of 40 cards measuring 50x83 mm.

Neapolitan cards of the "denarii" suit. Photo cardgame-club.it

Maps of Piacenza

This deck is descended from a Spanish type deck; it contains 40 cards; the figures are depicted as double-headed (two-sided). However, until the 50s of the last century, the figures were solid.

Created in Piacenza, the prototype of these maps was probably brought to the city during the French occupation. These maps can be found in eastern Reggio Emilia, southern Lombardy, Garfagnana, Marche, Umbria and Lazio.

Piacenza's original deck of cards is very similar to a Spanish deck drawn by Felipe Ayet in 1575 and found in Madrid's Los Lujanes tower when it was demolished. All figures in the deck are depicted in full, including the legs; The denarius ace is depicted as a huge crowned eagle.

Maps of Piacenza. Photo cardgame-club.it

Piedmontese maps

Piedmontese cards closely resemble the Genoese deck from which they probably originated. These are cards with French suits, with double-headed figures depicted in the Belgian style.

Piedmontese cards are released in versions of 40, 36 and 52 cards in the deck; The size is very small - only 50x83 mm.

Maps of Piedmont. Photo cardgame-club.it

Sardinian maps

Sardinian cards are the most similar to modern Spanish of all modern regional Italian decks. The suits are called: cuppas (cups), oros (denarii), bastos (clubs) and ispadas (swords). The deck consists of 40 cards, the figures in them are single-headed, the cards have a size of 56x88 mm. As in Spanish decks, the jack (sutta) in these cards has a face value of 8 points, the knight (caddu) - 9, and the king (re) - 10.

Sardinian deck. Photo cardgame-club.it

Sicilian maps

Sicilian maps are similar to Neapolitan ones, but are smaller in size. Here also the queen takes the place of the jack. The king of the "dinarius" is called "matta" and has a special role in various games, such as sette e mezzo and cucù. The “clubs” are called “mazze”, the suit of “denarii” is “oro”.

The deck consists of 40 cards.

Sicilian deck. Photo cardgame-club.it

In the first copies of the Sicilian deck, the horse "club" represented Garibaldi, and the king represented King Vittorio Emanuele II.

Florentine maps

Tuscan cards have French suits; the deck consists of 40 cards measuring 67x101 mm, making them the largest in Italy. The Tuscan deck is played everywhere in the region except Garfagnana.

Jacks and kings down are called "gobbo" and "regio" respectively.

Tuscan deck. Photo cardgame-club.it

Venetian maps (maps of Treviso, Veneto)

This type of deck is common throughout the region and. Historical decks from the 18th century, housed in the Correr Museum in Venice, contain 52 cards. Initially, the figures on the cards were full, but in the 19th century they began to be printed with two heads.

Modern decks have 53 or 40 cards. Along with the Bolognese maps, the Venetian maps are very long: their size is 49x104 mm.

Vintage Venetian maps. "Mace" suit. Photo: wikimedia.org

Finally, I decided to briefly tell the history of playing cards in Europe. There are a lot of materials and examples, so the most difficult thing is to stop in time and not overload you with unnecessary details that are of interest only to specialists. If someone doesn’t understand some points or wants to know about something in more detail, then don’t hesitate to ask. I warn you right away that although the history of playing and fortune-telling cards often overlapped, I will not talk in detail about tarot cards, I will only mention some of the existing connections.

History of playing cards in Europe.
The history of maps in Europe is quite complex and confusing. It is not known exactly when exactly the first decks appeared there; most likely they have not survived. At the end of the 14th century, references to maps and their production appeared in various documents. Judging by the appearance of the maps, which I will discuss in more detail below, there was no single way of their penetration into European states; most likely, there were several different sources independent of each other. Probably, in different ways, maps came to certain regions of Europe from the countries of the East, and then underwent changes in accordance with the culture of a particular area. Initially, there was no single type of card even in one region, there were a huge number of variations in the number of cards in the deck, types of suits and the like. Only after a long time were they able to come to some common denominator, and three main types of decks were formed, differing in the designation of suits, which still exist today. Each type of card is common in a specific geographic region. Accordingly, these are Italian-Spanish, German (with a Swiss variety), French-English types of decks. Let's take a closer look at each of these types.

1. Spain and Italy.
Some of the first known maps that have survived to this day appeared in this region. Judging by their appearance, the maps were borrowed from the Arabs, which is not surprising, given the connection of this region with the countries of the East and the Muslim influence on Spanish culture. In Spain, the cards were called naibes or naipes. This name comes from the Arabic name for cards. The decks had four suits that are familiar to those who work with tarot cards: coins, cups, swords and wands. Unlike the Mamluk maps, the Spaniards began to draw images of people on their court maps. In addition, dozens disappeared from the deck - there were 48 cards left in it. 10 is the Jack (la sota), 11 is the knight (el caballo), 12 is the king (el rey). Later, for some games, decks with 40 cards appeared (they lack 9 and 8); decks with such a number of cards are characteristic of Spain. Examples of such decks.

Classic Spanish deck with 40 cards: numbered from 1 to 7, two knights and a king. The king is always depicted standing.

Fournier Spanish Cards

Another deck from this factory

Simeon Durá, Valencia, Spain, c.1875

Similar maps appeared in Italy. They had a name similar to the Spanish one naibi (naibbe, nahipi), in the 15th century the name Saracen cards is also found.

Cards with Bergamo pattern. Modern Italian deck. The number and composition of cards is similar to Spanish decks.

In northern Italy, based on this deck, a special type of cards arose, which we now know as tarot. 22 trump cards, or triumphs as they were called, were added to the deck. In addition, it was there that for the first time decks began to be encountered in which, among the court cards, in addition to the king and two knights, a queen appeared. Later, the queen in northern Italian gaming decks (and French-English, traditional for us) replaced one of the knights. There are usually no queens in Spanish decks

Tarocco Bolognese

Several cards from the Tarocco Bolognese di G.M. Mitelli published by Il Meneghello (17th century).

Unfortunately, many ancient decks from the 15th and 16th centuries have survived to this day in an incomplete version; often less than half of the deck is known, so it is not always possible to judge how many cards were in it. Here are some interesting examples of ancient card decks with Spanish-Italian suits. More often the decks were black and white; only very rich people could afford colored decks.

15 cards on an uncut sheet from a book published in 1519.

Several surviving cards from a Catalan deck from 1495.

Several cards from the Phelippe Ayet deck, c.1575

A very interesting beautiful deck (let me show you all the cards from it that I managed to find). The deck was made to order from German engravers for the wedding of Philip the Fair and Juana in 1486. Roman numerals do not denote arcana, as we are now accustomed to, but numbered cards. It’s interesting that there are also tens that are unconventional for Spanish decks.

In addition, instead of the suit of coins, pomegranate fruits are depicted here. So the deck is not at all typical for Spain, and contains features of both Italian and German influence.

As for the name tarot or tarocco (tarocco), it appeared only in the 16th century; before that they were called carte da trionfi (cards with triumphs). Originally there was no specific rule for what should be drawn on triumph cards.

They, like the entire deck, did not carry any esoteric meaning; the deck served only for the game.

For example, the only known playing card from an unpreserved deck, on which a ship is depicted, is known. It is generally accepted that it was one of triumphs.

Sola Busca Tarocchi

One of the oldest decks. The triumphs depict heroes from Roman mythology. Perhaps the author of the deck put some special meaning into the drawings of the major arcana, especially considering the theme of the images, but the deck was most likely a playing deck, not a fortune-telling one.

Until now, similar playing decks designed for playing tarok are used in Italy and some other countries. Moreover, the cards of the major arcana may have nothing to do with the type of cards intended for fortune telling. Here is an example of such decks.

Piedmont Tarot. Deck for the game. (Modern deck)

Fragments of two more modern tarot playing decks

In addition, later, variants of decks for playing tarok began to be found with the French-English suits, which are more familiar to us.

Examples:

Tarot Francais des Fleurs 78 cards) 1902

Deck from Piatnik Industrie und Gluck Tarock Cards (Klub-Tarock No_ 128)

At the same time, there were Saracen maps, usually smaller in size, and maps with triumphs, larger and better in design, and therefore more expensive.
Decks with Spanish-Italian suit designations without major arcana still exist. In addition to Spain and Italy, they can be found in Latin American countries.

Playing cards engraved in silver from Peru, 1745

By the way, if you watch the series “Boardwalk Empire,” then pay attention that in one of the fragments the Italian gangsters play a deck with Italian-Spanish suits.

Several examples of interesting decks of the Spanish-Italian type.

"Dedication to the Cadiz Constitution of 1812"
Barcelona, ​​1822
Kunstler: Kupferstecher um 1822 aus Barcelona
Langtitel: Kartenspiel zur Erinnerung an die Konstitution von Cadiz
Entstehungsjahr: 1822

Instead of bowls there are cannonballs, and instead of coins there are sheets with the text of the constitution.

Baraja Ibero Americana deck. Made by the Fournier factory for the Spanish-American Exhibition in 1929. Judging by the numbering on the cards, there are no 10 in it. That is, this is an example of a deck of 48 cards.

Italo-Spanish suit patterns can be divided into two types: Spanish and Northern Italian. The Spanish type is characterized by the image of wands in the form of clubs, straight swords or daggers, cups with sharp outlines, and on denarii solar symbolism or a female profile is often depicted. For northern Italians - aristocratic straight staffs, round swords, soft lines of bowls, floral symbolism predominates on denarii.
The Italian-Spanish deck is common in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Its distinctive feature is the use of traditional suit symbols: swords, cups, clubs and coins. Over the course of half a millennium, it has developed two types of patterns, conventionally called Northern Italian (with a distribution zone in Northern Italy) and Spanish (with a distribution zone in Southern Italy and on the islands, Spain, Portugal and Latin America).

Map of the distribution of card types in Italy by region.

It is also interesting to note that in Italy, in some regions, there is still a card game called Cuckoo with a very special deck. Interestingly, a similar game with a similar deck exists in Sweden and Denmark, but is not found in central Europe. How this happened is not very clear. It is possible that this game was once more widely used, but then was forgotten in most countries. Or maybe some traveler brought the game from one region to another, and there it gained unexpected popularity.

To work on this post, I used many materials that are in our

One of the things that surprised me in Italy at one time was the calm attitude towards playing cards. Here cards are a common game, like hundreds of others. Even small children play them, in schools and at home: my son already learned the basics of poker in elementary school - is that unheard of?
In my family - and I don’t even know whether it was a separate quirk of a separate family, or a general trend in the country - cards were considered the threshold of vice and were avoided in every possible way in everyday life.

We played exclusively in the summer, on vacation. Grandfather was an inveterate gambler - no whist, bridges or poker for you, really - but strictly a “fool” or, to pay tribute to diversity, a “fool,” but he had no equal in this game.
Everyone gathered at a large table in the courtyard, the grandfather ceremoniously took out his working deck, shuffled, removed, distributed, accompanying everyone with comments and jokes. The cards were old and pretty tattered, and they smelled exactly like money did at that time - everything and nothing in particular. The smell characteristic of things that have passed through a huge number of hands and been on all types of surfaces.

My squeamish mother delicately tried to convince my grandfather to periodically sanitize his tools - he was constantly given new decks, of different types and colors, but sooner or later they all disappeared somewhere without a trace, to once again give way to the same old and battered one.

This was my favorite deck - I mean the style and designs. I still consider her the most beautiful - it’s a pity that there are no such people in Italy. Here everyone plays the same type of cards, which is dull and does not allow any flight of fancy at all.
Why do you need a flight of fancy? But why!

Since I was a so-so player - in general, I’m not good at board games - I forget the rules, confuse moves, get distracted by different thoughts and generally have a hard time thinking - I liked to peer into the characters and come up with stories.

My favorites in the deck were the Queen of Crosses and the Queen of Diamonds. It took me a long time to decide which one I wanted to be - in the end, my love for the color green won out. My stories roughly went like this, with different variations:

The Queen of the Cross was in love with the Jack of the Cross. Because he had the most pleasant face and outfit, and he looked like a noble guy. But the Jack of Diamonds had an impudent face, and I didn’t like him. He was in love with the Queen of Diamonds, unrequitedly. He was viciously jealous of her, and constantly weaved various intrigues against her and his colleague, the cross Jack, together with the nasty gossips, Queens of Spades and Queens of Hearts. For some reason, there was never a place for Kings in my stories - probably because they had no time, they ruled their states.

And so she could sit and fantasize for hours, looking at the outfits of the characters and redrawing them in her album.
But Italian maps would hardly have inspired all this. That's why they just play them.