Palio Siena

An occasion that repeats itself twice a year, on the 2nd of June and the 16 of August (wheather permitting). The former is named Palio di Provenzano in honour of Madonna di Provenzano and the latter is named Palio dell’Assunta, after the Assumption of Mary. During the Palio the competitors and supporters vest their colors to proudly reppresent their contrada,  filling the town with colorful flags. The event continues for 4 days!

The Palio is more than just a horse race. The senesi (people from Siena), are very proud of their origins and especially in the days of the Palio there is a huge rivalry between the contrade. The contrade are military squads created to improve the organization of the militia. The city is divided into 17 contrade, out of which 10 of them compete in the race on 10 unsaddled horses.  The race consists in circling the famous Piazza del Campo, which will be covered with a thick layer of dirt, put especially for this occasion.  It is a 90 seconds race which captures the tremendous courage by the jockeys riding their unsaddled horses to bring home the victory.  It can easily be compared to the soccer World Cup terminated recently in South Africa. Winning the Palio for the contrade is not just an occasion to celebrate, its the honour of their kin that is at stake. The jockies riding with such speed, in such a narrow track and that too unsaddled, has resulted in countless risky falls. It is not rare that the horses finish the race without the jockey. In any case if the horse finishes the race, the run is valid since the horse is enough to represent the contrada.

• Day 1: The first day is refered to as the Tratta. It is the day of the selection of the horses. 10 horses are selected out of the herd and  then given to each contrada through a draw process.
• Day 2: A couple of trials during the day for the contenders and horses to get used to the track and later the presentation of the Palio in the Duomo or the S. Maria Church in Provenzano
• Day 3: Another couple of trials during the day followed by an exhibition of the Police on horseback. Later in the evening each contrada organize a huge dinner out in the streets. A time to get together before the main event.
• Day 4: The final day is the most memorable. La Messa del Fantino. In each of the contrada’s church the horse of the jockey recieves blessings. After the blessings, all the contradas meet at the Prefettura near the Duomo where the Corteo Storico begins. The corteo, is a parade where all the contradas along with their contenders in costume as well as the rappresentatives of the Ancient Reppublic of the town are present. Later on the race begins.