PALIO DI SIENA, THE TRADICIONAL MEDIEVAL HORSE RACE

The Flags of the Sienese Contrade

Yesterday, Tonyi Tamaki and her friends arrived to Siena and visited each one of the 17 contrade that participate in Il Palio di Siena, running twice each year. Each contrada is named after an animal or symbol, and each has a long history and complicated heraldic and semi-mythological associations.  

Tonyi loves horses and knowing more things about this ancestral tradition is a good opportunity to learn about the importance of these animals along the history of Tuscany.

The Palio di Siena, known locally simply as Il Palio, is a horse race that is held twice each year, on 2 July and 16 August, in Siena, Tuscany. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards.

The Palio held on 2 July is named Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, a Marian devotion particular to Siena which developed around an icon from the Terzo Camollia. The Palio held on 16 August is named Palio dell'Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.

More information: Il Palio

Sometimes, in case of exceptional events or local or national anniversaries deemed relevant and pertinent ones, the city community may decide for an extraordinary Palio, run between May and September. The last two were on 9th September 2000, to celebrate the entering of the city in the new millennium and on 20th October 2018, in commemoration of the end of the Great War.

A pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world.

Il Palio di Siena, Tuscany

The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of earth has been laid. The race is run for three laps of the piazza and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds.

It is common for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza, and indeed, it is not unusual to see riderless horses finishing the race.

The earliest known antecedents of the race are medieval. The town's central piazza was the site of public games, largely combative: pugna, a sort of many-sided boxing match or brawl; jousting; and in the 16th century, bullfights. Public races organized by the contrade were popular from the 14th century on; called palii alla lunga, they were run across the whole city.

When the Grand Duke of Tuscany outlawed bullfighting in 1590, the contrade took to organizing races in the Piazza del Campo. The first such races were on buffalo-back and called bufalate; asinate, races on donkey-back, later took their place, while horse racing continued elsewhere. The first modern Palio, called palio alla tonda to distinguish it from the earlier palii alla lunga, took place in 1633.

More information: Visit Tuscany

At first, one race was held each year, on 2 July. A second, on 16 August, was added from 1701, though initially, the August race was run intermittently rather than every year. The August race, il palio dell'Assunta, which coincided with the Feast of the Assumption, was probably introduced spontaneously as part of the feasting and celebration associated with this important festival. August 16 was presumably chosen because the other days of the mid-August canonical festival, the 14th and 15th of the month, were already taken up respectively by the Corteo dei Ceri and by the census.

Il Palio di Siena, Tuscany

The August Palio started out as an extension of the celebrations of the July Palio and was organized and funded by July's winning contrada, though only if the contrada in question could afford it.

After 1802, however, organisation and funding the August race became a central responsibility of the city, which removed annual uncertainty over whether or not an August Palio would run. It was originated in 1581 on 15 August.

In 1729, the city's Munich-born governor, Violante of Bavaria, defined formal boundaries for the contrade, at the same time imposing several mergers so that the number of Sienese contrade was reduced to seventeen. This was also the year of the decree restricting to ten the number of contrade that could participate in a Palio; the restriction, which remains in force, resulted from the number and extent of accidents experienced in the preceding races.

The Palio di Siena is more than a simple horse race. It is the culmination of ongoing rivalry and competition between the contrade. The lead-up and the day of the race are invested with passion and pride. Formal and informal rituals take place as the day proceeds, with each contrada navigating a strategy of horsemanship, alliances and animosities.

More information: Discover Tuscany

There are the final clandestine meetings among the heads of the contrade and then between them and the jockeys. There is the two-hour pageant of the Corteo Storico, and then all this is crowned by the race, which takes only about 75 seconds to complete. Although there is great public spectacle, the passions displayed are still very real.

The contrada that has been the longest without a victory is nicknamed nonna, grandmother. Civetta, the Owlet, had the title from 1979 until 2009, when it won 16 August race. Torre, the Tower, had this title for being without victory for 44 years, from 1961 to 2005, and Bruco, the Caterpillar, held the title for not winning over 41 years, from 1955 to 1996. Last nonna was Lupa, the She-Wolf, which has not had a victory since 2 July 1989, a period of 29–30 years, until July 2016, when it finally won, leaving now the nonna title to Aquila, the Eagle.

Il Palio di Siena in Piazza del Campo, Tuscany

The drappellone or palio, known affectionately as the rag in Siena, is the trophy that is to be delivered to the contrada that wins the Palio.

The palio is an elongated rectangular piece of silk, hand-painted by an artist for the occasion.

It is held vertically on a black-and-white shaft halberd and topped by a silver plate, with two white and black plumes draped down the sides.

The palio, along with the plumes, remains the property of the contrada. The plate is returned to the city of Siena before the two Palii of the following year, after the date and the name of the victorious contrada are inscribed on its back. There is one silver platter for the Palio in July and another for the August Palio. The plates are replaced approximately every ten years.

More information: The New York Times

The value of the banner is unique, because it represents a particular historical period of the city of Siena. The palii often reflect the symbols of the various governments that have presided at various times, including the crest of the grand duchy of Lorraine, the crest of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the crest of the Kingdom of Savoy of Italy, symbols from Fascist Italy, and most recently, imagery of the Republic.

The process that an artist should follow in designing the palio is rigid: it must follow a precise iconography that includes some sacred symbols, as the July Palio is dedicated to the Madonna of Provenzano, and that of August to the Madonna of the Assumption. It must present the insignia of the city, those of the third part of the city, and the symbols or colors of the ten contrade participating in the race. There are, however, no limits regarding the style of the art. The palio is first presented at a press conference in the courtyard of the Podestà of the City Hall about a week before the race.

More information: The Guardian

 Palio is not a horse race; it's a way of life. 

Christian Sinibaldi