Siena, Italy — Palio

Last summer I spent 3 weeks in Siena, Italy. I was lucky enough to be there when their Palio was taking place. Palio is a horse race that takes place in Piazza del Campo, Siena’s center square. It takes place twice a year (July 2nd and August 16th) and it includes 10 horses with 10 riders for each horse that represents the 10 contradas or city wards out of the 17 contradas Siena has in total. I watched the culture come to life as each horse from each contrada was brought into a church and blessed, as each Siena native prayed for their contrada in hopes that they would win, and watched as each contrada celebrated by marching in the streets playing their contrada’s march. I waited in the piazza all day in the blazing heat so that I had a good spot before the crowd started. After a certain point, the piazza closed its gates to start the opening ceremonies. They introduced each horse and their rider. Then when all was said and done, the piazza grew silent as they eagerly awaited the race. There were MANY false starts and every time the cannon shot up into the sky, clouding the sky with puffs of smoke. Finally the race was on! You could hear the crowd cheering for their contrada and boo for the others. You could hear them gasp when the horses would run through the tight corner and you could even see a horse or two run into the padded corner, knocking off its rider. When the 3 laps were up and the gun sounded for each horse that crossed the finish line, the crowd went wild! The contrada that won cried happy tears and the contrada that lost cries in sorrow. The winning contrada crowds around their winning horse, everyone wanting to reach out and congratulate the rider. The streets lit up in celebration and the Drago contrada wins the Palio of July 2018!