Italian Adventures – We Bought a House in Italy!

The Tradition

The Palio is the most important event in Siena, taking place on July 2 and August 16 every year. In the Palio, the various Sienese “contrade”, or what I would call districts / neighborhoods within the city challenge each other in a passionate horse race in the heart of the city in the Piazza del Campo (il Campo). This is a more than 500 year tradition.

Originally, there were about fifty-nine “Contrade”; now only seventeen remain, ten of which take part in the historical race. For the July 2nd race, there is a lottery, of sorts, that happens about 6 weeks prior to the event, to select the 10 contrade racing. The 7 remaining contrade are automatically guaranteed a spot in the Aug. 16th race.

The 17 Contrade which still exist today are the:

Eagle / Aquila (one of my favorites)

Snail / Chiocciola

Wave / Onda (another favorite of mine – we call this one the dolphin)

Panther / Pantera

Forest / Selva (I call this one the Rhino)

Tortoise / Tartuca (Heather’s favorite)

Owl / Civetta (we assign this one to Grammie, the old wise one)

Unicorn / Leocorno

Shell / Niccio

Tower / Torre (we call this one Elefante) – this is Jessica’s contrada

Ram / Valdimontone

Caterpillar / Bruco

Dragon / Drago (another favorite of mine)

Giraffe / Giraffe (my niece Katie’s favorite)

Porcupine / Istrice (assigned to Andrew due to their ownership of a Hedgehog)

She-Wolf / Lupa

Goose / Oca

Each contrada has its own unique emblem & colors. As you walk through the streets of Siena, it is easy to know in which Contrada you currently are in by the flags & emblems displayed along the street.

The following list details the traditional contrada enemies:

Tower—Goose
Porcupine—She-Wolf
Snail—Turtle
Shell—Ram
Caterpillar—Giraffe (annulled with a peace treaty in 1996)
Eagle—Panther
Owl—Unicorn

There are practice races the three days prior to the actual race. There are members of the contrada assigned to sleep within the church where the horse is kept to make sure it remains safe and calm. On the day of the actual Palio, the horses are blessed within the church of each contrada before being paraded through town to Il Campo.

I feel like it’s important to note that there are many people who protest il Palio as cruelty to animals. While it doesn’t happen annually, it does happen where a horse goes down and needs to be put down for a broken leg. Tragic for sure but for me personally, I love the history and tradition of the race, as well as the cultural meaning and contrade companionship. But I also understand the animal rights people who have aingst and concern.

The Palio begins with a ‘parade’ of each contrada, consisting of flag throwers, drummers, and so much more. The actual race typically doesn’t begin before 7pm CEST. Interesting note: in 2024 & 2025, the races were delayed due to severe thunderstorms. In 2024, the final race didn’t take place until 3 days after the actual Palio date. I always wonder what happens to those who bought a balcony or special tickets but then had to leave due to travel bookings.

In the weeks leading up to il Palio, there are sounds throughout the centro storico and the various contrade where the citizens are practicing their flag throwing and drumming to be ready for the actual event. I love wandering through town in the days before the Palio to witness such rehearsals.

The square is filled with 30,000+ people. Considering that in July and August the temperature can be 90-100+ degrees F, I can’t imagine how hot it is in the center, not to mention what you do when you need to go to the bathroom.

In 2017, when I rented a house for 6 weeks in Castellina in Chianti, I looked into renting a balcony to watch the Palio in August. The cost was slightly more than 10K euros, including drinks and snacks…WHAT?! I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. However, I rented our 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house in Castellina for 5 weeks for a little more than 9k euros, so NOPE! We will continue with our tradition of watching il Palio on the TV.

The horses are called into the race gated area one by one, based on their lottery draw. This is where it really starts to get crazy. The horses and riders called into the area between the two ropes are expected to remain there, orderly, while the other horses are called into the area. The 10th horse hangs back, outside of the roped off starting ‘gate’ area and determines the actual start of the race. Once they start and cross the initial roped area, the race begins. It is very common for there to be many false starts. It is also common for the horses to be released out of the area and to start again due to horse distrubance and general unrest in the roped off gated starting area. I have watched numerous Palios where there have been as many of 6 restarts.

Once the race begins, they have to complete 3 laps around il Campo. The one ‘shell’ hard corner is what I call the Danger zone, as many horses go too wide and hit the wall, colliding with other horses, losing their riders or worse, going down themselves. It is important to note that the horse does NOT need a rider in order to win the race. I recall a race about 2 years ago where the rider was tossed on that hard corner and yet the horse went on to win.

The riders wear a costume that reflects the colors and mascot of the contrada. I like to call these silk pajamas with a small helmet. They ride horseback so I can only imagine how hard it is to remain on the horse through these tough corners and other horses slamming into you to take the lead.

The first two pictures are of my snaps of the race on the TV. The others are a famous photographer in Siena.

As the winner crosses the finish line, the crowd erupts in excitement. The poor rider is ripped off of the horse in celebration and herald as a hero.

It sucks to be the #2 finisher, as you would be better off finishing last. As the second horse across the line, they tend to pull that rider off and hit the crap out of him. WHY didn’t he win?!

While it is a huge honor to win, it often can bankrupt the contrada, as they then provide dinners for numerous nights following il Palio, as well as other dates throughout the season. When one contrada wins numerous races, this is where it’s great, but also very bad (financially).

One of my favorite books that highlights the essence of Siena and il Palio, is Seven Seasons in Siena. I highly recommend it.

Siena, regardless of when you go is a beautiful town you must explore. Wedensday is market day and there is a HUGE market just past the main bus station. It goes on forever. It starts with clothing stalls directly across from the station, and if you wander down the path, you arrive at all of the fresh food…seafood, cheese, meat, bread, vegetables, and so much more.

Wander back up and there is what feels like miles of clothing, leather, house goods, etc. stalls. It gets a bit overwhelming, to be honest. My favorite leather vendor, Ottman, is always there and I bring all of my friends & guests, unless I know we can see him in a smaller venue. He offers high quality leather purses, wallets and belts at a very competitive price. We got to know him initally in Castellina in Chianti and I have supported him ever since.