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SienaThe Palio, held twice a year on july 2nd (to commemorate the miracles of the Madonna of Provenzano) and august 16th (to honour the Assumption of the Virgin) is "the" event in Siena - a 75 second lasting horse-race. The yearly aim of every town quarter (contrada) is to win the palio or at least to take part. The "Palio", a tradition dating from the Renaissance, takes place in the Piazza del Campo a marvelous sloping plaza in the shape of a half-shell whose circumference is topped on race day with a layer of dirt to create a track. Bright costumes crowds parades and the horse races themselves make for a fascinating spectacle. The 17 "contrade" into which the city is now divided compete in the palio, wearing their traditional costumes and carrying their emblems. Each contrada has a name, a banner and a church of its own. Only 10 of these 17 contrade take part in the actual Palio race, after having drawn by lot before the festival. If you want to see the race get there early, bring food, lots of water and some protection from the sun. (You’ll need to buy tickets ahead of time to get a decent viewing place in the stands but the center of the Campo is free. The down side is that you can get trapped there for several hours while guarding your place.) The crowds will be tremendous and the conditions cramped but in our opinion the race is worth it. The weeks leading up to the Palio are also full of parades and feasts in the contrades (districts) that sponsor the race and which sport their own heraldic mascots (you can buy Palio flags with each emblem). Although most people only stay one night two nights wouldn’t be too long especially if you’re there during the Palio. The actual festival begins in the afternoon, with the traditional, extremely picturesque procession. It consists of a parade, in historical costume, of mace-bearers, trumpeters, bandasmen, grooms, and standard-bearers, in addition to characters representing the ancient rulers of the city; the Capitain of the People, the "Podesta", the Banner-bearers, the Chief Magistrate, the "Biccherna" Superintendents and others. We will give now a short list of the town's "contrade": the Nobel Eagle District (Aquila) the Noble Caterpillar District (Bruco) the Dragon District (Drago) the Imperial Giraffe District (Giraffa) the she-wolf District (Lupa) the Noble Conch Shell District (Nicchio) the Panther District (Pantera) the forest District (Selva) the Vale of the Ram District (Valdimontone) the small District (Chiocciola) - palio winner august 1999 the Prior Owl District (Civetta) the Istrice district - palio winner july 2000 the Horned Lion District (Leocorno) - palio winner august 2000 and july 2001 the Noble Goose District (Oca) - palio winner july 1999 the Flag-ship of the Wawe District (Capitana Onda) the Tortoise District (Tartuca) the Tower District (Torre) There are also contests to choose which horses compete in the Palio, which is opened with a parade. In the late afternoon, to my understanding, a member from each contrade(team), runs up the stairs in that huge building at the "race track" for the Palio. They put out their flag in the window, and they run up more stairs, and do it agian (less and less windows are twords the top), and agian.
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