Siena, April 18, 2015

Siena April 18, 2015

view of Siena from the Church of San Domenico

portion of Siena’s old town wall

driving from Florence to Siena

our local guide, Maria

the City Hall's tower

many houses are built on top of each other, so there are lots of interesting narrow walkways and alleys

Siena is dedicated to the Madonna, and there are Madonnas everwhere

we are in the goose section of town. There are 14 sections, each very proud of its heritage. Our guide, Maria, comes from the Selva, or Forest, section.

we are walking through narrow alleys and tunnels to the Selva district

Selva (Forest) community church

The Palio di Siena

The winning contrade receives a Palio banner, which is designed each year by artists of Siena.

The earliest known antecedents of the race are medieval. The town's central piazza was the site of public games, largely combative: pugna, a sort of many-sided boxing match or brawl; jousting; and in the 16th century, bullfights. Public races organized by the contrade were popular from the 14th century on; called palii alla lunga, they were run across the whole city.

When the Grand Duke of Tuscany outlawed bullfighting in 1590, the contrade took to organizing races in the Piazza del Campo. The first such races were on buffalo-back and called bufalate; asinate, races on donkey-back, later took their place, while horse racing continued elsewhere. The first modern Palio (called palio alla tonda to distinguish it from the earlier palii alla lunga) took place in 1656.

The Palio di Siena is a horse race that is held twice each year, on July 2 and August 16, in Siena, Italy. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colors, represent ten of the seventeen contrades, or city wards. A pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world.

The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid, three times and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds. It is common for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza, and indeed, it is usual to see unmounted horses finishing the race without their jockeys. Dirty tricks between the contrade teams are also common, and not discouraged.