I stood in the Piazza for seven hours in the hot sun, for a five minute hours race and it was completely worth it.
Each year on July 2nd and August 16, 10 horses and jockeys and 60 thousand people gather in the Piazza for the race of a life time. Since the 14th century, the people of Siena have been dedicating this event to the Virgin Mary and Madonna of Provenzano.
Siena is divided into 17 different contradas or “neighborhoods.” You can think of a contrada as a huge extended family with unique colors and a distinctive mascot. To belong to a contrada you must be born into it and be baptized within the church. Each contrada has their own square, museum, well or fountain. My apartment was located in the Leocorno contrada and was represented by a unicorn!
Leading up the day of the Palio, the Piazza is converted into a race track and tons of dirt is brought into the city to cover the cobble stone. When I was on my way to school, I was shocked to find the Piazza completely transformed in one night.
Only ten contradas are allowed to race and the horses are randomly assigned to them. The locals do their research and know which horse will preform the best, this year the Lupa (shewolf) contrada received the best horse. Days before the race each contrada celebrates with huge dinners in their streets with singing and drumming. The day of the Palio the contrada takes their horse and their jokey to their church to be blessed by the priest. Each horse and jokey is told to “go and return victorious.” In addition, each contrada has their own enemies and allies. My contrada enemy was the owl contrada. This year some of our friends lived in the Lupa (shewolf) contrada and their enemy, the Porcupine contrada, was our professors contrada.
To get a good spot, my friends and I headed to Piazza at 1:00 and waited in the hot sun for seven hours for the race to start. We stood around the start line and had a great view of the Piazza and the treacherous corner where a lot of the jockeys and horses fall. After six long, sweaty hours at the piazza, the parade began. Each contrada parades around the piazza with their flags and horses. In addition, once the parades starts, the gates close and no one is allowed to enter or exit the Piazza, this meant no bathrooms.
Around 8:00 the horse and jockeys enter the Piazza and get lined up. This can take several times because the horses and jockeys don’t always corporate. This year it took three times to start because the Lupa contrada was edging on the Porcupine contrada, their enemy. Without any warning the 10 horses were released and charged down the piazza. This was one of the most intense moments I have experienced. People were crammed into the Piazza and you pressed up against the person next to you. People are shouting and screaming and waving their contrada flags around. The emotions and excitement were at an all time high. Since our group had a good view of the most treacherous corner, we saw two of the horses fall and their jockeys get crushed. Once the horses were around the next corner, the medics pulled the limp body off the track. For the first two laps, the shell horse was in first place, but at the end the Lupa horse made the last corner better and pulled ahead. Once the Lupa won, the members stormed the track to thank and celebrate the jokey and the horse. Some people were crying in joy while others were furious with the outcome of the race.
Being a part of an event that has happened over hundreds of years was an honor and such a memorable experience. I can’t express my gratitude to experience it. It was a hard and long day but completely worth it.
As we were leaving the Piazza, we ran into one of the cast members of The Walking Dead, Darrel! In addition, Alex Pettyfer from Magic Mike and Kate Moss the Model, were there.
Here is a video from where I was standing in the Piazza! The horses were getting ready to line up and race!
Until Next Time,
The Italian Duck
Leave a Reply