Are you going to be in Tuscany in July and August? Don’t miss the emotion of the palio di Siena
What is a page about the Palio di Siena doing on the home page about a weekend in Florence?
Simple, contrary to the characteristics of the historical Florentines, which was being at war with anyone outside the city walls (also inside the city walls, do you remember the Guelfs and Ghibellines)?
We want to celebrate an event, that is not really ours but extraordinary nonetheless.
On the 2nd and on the 16th of August the ‘piazza del campo’ gets literary invaded by around 70.000 people from Sienna and beyond.
The atmosphere is festive and loud but at the same time full of adrenaline, you get the feeling that the end of the world is coming…the jockeys bring the horses behind the rope and in the meantime bribing each other for one another to lose.
They do everything to win the “drappellone” (this is where the name the Palio comes from, a hand painted banner) and to destroy the other enemy districts of Siena. It’s rumored that thousands of Euros are spent at the starting line bribing other jockeys.
Rarely does the calling of the line-up last a few minutes. The order in which the starter calls the districts of Siena to the starting line, is held a secret until just a few minutes before and this doesn’t make it easier. The last horse in the line-up won’t enter until the other ones have systemized themselves at least a little bit to their favor!
The tension is incredible, there are endless moments until the last horse gets to the starting line, then the starting-line falls down in a heap on the ground, and off they go! The jockeys push the horses as fast as they can for the three fateful laps around the ‘piazza’ through the terrible curve of ‘San Martin’ trying to cut all the curves so no one can pass them… it’s not only a race but also a battle where you race for the honor of the district.
It takes place for a minute and a half, more or less, but the delight for the winner celebrated by three canon shots, lasts forever.
The Palio di Siena is taken very seriously, you will see desperation, tears but also happiness and extreme emotions because of this, it’s easy to distinguish the tourist from the Sienese people.
The race was established in 1305, when Dante already spoke about the Palio, even if this public performance takes place according to the present rules since “just” 1644.
Since then, except on some rare occasions, the Palio of Provenzano (2 th of July) and the Palio of Assunta (16th of August)are run every year. There are 10 districts of Siena that compete out of the 17 total districts into which the city is divided.
7 of them are chosen because they did not participate the year before, and 3 are chosen by a lottery a month before.
The horses are given to the districts by lottery four days before the event. They get to know the horses and get them used to “the atmosphere in the ‘piazza’”. The meeting of the horses and the district is extreme, almost mythical, just think about the fact that a four-legged animal is welcome into the church for its own blessing!
It's very difficult to condense all the emotions that the palio di Siena can give to you, maybe this can helps...
There are four days of rituals and rites to get prepared for the culmination of the march through the streets of the city to the ‘piazza’. If you are in Florence during these days you can’t miss these emotions, betray our city for a few hours and enjoy the palio di Siena!
Are you looking for an accomodation in the city of palio? No problem, here are our best choice for hotels and more in the Siena's centre.
On the 2nd and on the 16th of August the ‘piazza del campo’ gets literary invaded by around 70.000 people from Sienna and beyond.
