The 17 contrade

The Legend of la BEFANA

Passion of Christ on Palm Sunday

The Grassina Passion Play

Gothic Dream

The Race or Bravio of St. Reparata

Wish upon a star

Halloween

Bacco Artigiano at Rufina

And who was St. Zenobius?

A home from home through the year

More Tuscan history

The Scottish market

twice a year Siena holds its breath

The Longest 90 Seconds
[Maddalena Delli]

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 babies are baptized into their contrada - which is an altogether different thing from Christian baptism - and from that moment they will be 'contradaioli' for life. A contrada is one of the 17 city districts - now functioniong much like social clubs - that in the European Middle Ages were rival military companies. Ten of the contrade compete twice yearly in a bareback horse race called Palio. Literally, the 'palio' is the standard (also called 'cencio') which is given as a prize to the winning contrada.

The Palio is run on July 2nd and on August 16th in the beautiful shell-shaped Piazza del Campo and has been held since 1701 (except in wartimes). Of course the contrade have alliances and rivalries, and any contradaiolo will tell you that seeing their enemy lose is the next best thing to winning. A few days before the Palio city workmen put down 'la terra in piazza' to turn the flagstones into a racetrack, and the fever starts to rise. The race itself consists of three laps of the square lasting less that 90 seconds, but the whole city is in turmoil for the whole of the three days preceding the event, and of course the winning contrada keeps celebrating for months thereafter. You can easily feel 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.

If you plan to see the race itself you should know that it is free to stand in the square but it can get very - VERY! - hot. On the other hand seats in the bleachers or on the balconies are very expensive and usually require months of advance booking. But in truth you can have as much fun by just watching the trials (6 of them are held twice daily in the three days before the official race) and maybe select a contrada and join in their street banquets (tickets can ususally be purchased on the spot).

Tourist info 0577.283004


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http://www.ilpaliodisiena.com/
http://www.comune.siena.it/
http://www.terresiena.it/