cielo blog home

The Palio of Siena is a special horse racing event in that grips the city of Siena in Italy every August. It is one of Italy’s best known festivals in the summer. The race takes place in the city’s main square known as the Piazzo del Campo.

Even though the square has substantial seating room, the throngs of people that descend on it during the race means securing seating in advance is the safest bet for a good seating position – or any seating at all.

Participants in the Palio of Siena are drawn from the city’s 17 districts (or contrade) with each contrade represented by one jockey. A draw is made 20 days before the day of the competition so that the riders can know the order in which they will race.

Even though there are 17 jockeys available for the race, only 10 will ultimately get the chance to compete. Of the 17 riders, 7 riders have an automatic right to participate in the main race, while the other three riders will eventually be drawn from the remaining ten riders.

Events on race day kick off at 8AM in the morning when a small mass is held there at one of the town’s main chapels. Each horse will then be blessed and thereafter people will proceed to the center of the town, stopping by the Piazza Salimbeni also known as the ‘Casino of the Nobles’.

At 10.30 am, at the City Hall, the Mayor of Siena oversees a brief ceremony that confirms each jockey that will participate in the race. After this is done, a jockey cannot be replaced.

The race is usually preceded by a colorful show of pomp in which people bearing flags and wearing medieval costumes parade. A charge is mounted by a squad of Carabineers on horseback, wielding swords as they trot around the racing track.

The 10 riders of the main race are bareback and dressed in different colors to differentiate them. At the start of the race, something interesting happens – only 9 of the 10 horses are allowed into the starting area while the tenth rider waits outside it.

This strange practice is steeped in the race’s tradition of deal-making, bribery, scheming and plotting that always takes place before the race can officially start. When negotiations are done, the tenth rider enters the starting point and the rope barrier can be lowered to signal the start of the competition.

The race is 1000 meters dash around the racing track and is usually over in about two minutes. The rider of the winning horse is awarded a winning flag known as the Palio – hence the race’s name. Winning the Palio is very prestigious and the district that successfully gets it each year erupts into raucous celebrations.