Ask anyone from Siena where they come from, and they will surprise you by mentioning not their country or the city, but the name of their Contrada. In fact, each year newborn babies are baptized into their Contrada on the Contrada’s patron Saint feast and from that moment they will be ‘Contradaioli’ for life. A Contrada is one of the seventeen city districts that in the Middle Ages were originally established as rival military companies. In turn, ten out of the seventeen Sienese contrade compete twice yearly in two bareback horse races called Palio. Literally, the ‘palio’ is the standard which is given as a prize to the winning Contrada.
The Palio race has been held since 1701 (except in wartimes) and is run on July 2nd (Palio della Madonna di Provenzano) and on August 16th (Palio dell’Assunta) in the beautiful shell-shaped Piazza del Campo, flanked by red brick Medieval palaces including the elegant Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) with its slim ‘Mangia’ belltower. The race itself takes place in the early evening and consists of three laps of the square and lasts less that 90 seconds, but the whole city is in a turmoil for the whole of the three days preceding the event, and of course the winning Contrada keeps celebrating for months thereafter. Although the races are preceded by an elaborate historic pageant with spectacular flag throwing shows and many costumed characters, you will easily sense that this is not yet another folk display put up for the benefit of tourists, but that it is deeply rooted in the heart and soul of the city instead. If you plan to see the race you should know that standing places in the middle of the square are free, but that it can get very hot in the middle of a thick crowd under the scorching Italian midsummer sun. On the other hand seats in the bleachers or on the balconies are very expensive and usually require months of advance booking. But in all truth, you can have as much fun by just watching the trials and maybe select a Contrada and join in their street banquets, tickets for which can usually be purchased on the spot.

[Pietro Salvadori]
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http://www.ilpalio.org

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