Skip to main content

Il Palio

By Shawn Bausch

Well into the legendary hills of Tuscany is Siena.  A story-book hilltop town of medieval magic.

Twice each year, this town's magic is multiplied with its famous horse race "Il Palio".  The Palio has been run for over 300 years in honour of a vision of the Madonna had by one of its neighborhood leaders.  The 17 remaining "contradas" (neighbourhoods) compete for the glory of winning one of the year's two competitions. 

Held July 2nd and August 16th, each competition is prefaced by three days of preparation and "boosting" and celebrations, when contradas will parade their colours, show off their banner tossing skills, and feats late into the night on the open streets of Siena.  Narrow medieval streets fly the standards of each neighborhood, the borders of each neighborhood separated only by a mere 6 ft across the street from one another.  Contradas will also conspire with one another on strategies for the race itself. 

Six trial races will also be run before the main event on the fourth day.  On the day of the race, after each contrada's horse for that race is baptized at their respective churches, the whole contrada and their horse marches to the beat of their drummers in a parade of the whole neighborhood to "il Campo",  the central oval on which the race will be run.  Don't expect a small festival to match Siena's small size (~60,000 residents).  The contradas swell with family and supporters living elsewhere and tourists flock to these events each year.  Passion is the reason these people are here.

Several thousand people watch from the centre of the Campo, around which the horses will run.  The revelers lucky enough to have a grandstand seat are often dressed in the colours of, and seated together with their contrada.  The effect is a Hogwarts-style flock of banners waving at the parade while it makes its way around the track just prior to the race.  The rich populate the windows of hotels and private buildings around the Campo.  Some on wooden walkways, terraced 3 or 4 high, where the TV cameras are nested.

During the parading of the horses and teams, cannon are periodically fired, announcing that something is coming.

The horses are not precisely easily led to the starting line, bucking and biting instead.  The bareback jockeys doing their best. When the start is finally called, it is 90 seconds of mayhem as all ten horses speed around the track three times, often hitting the walls and/or each other, sometimes losing a jockey or two in the process.  Words can't do the emotion of this event justice, nor the medieval spectacle on display.

July 2nd's winner is Contrada "Selva" (whose mascot is a tree).  And their fans rushed the track, nearly pulling the jockey from the horse, many in tears with the historic win.  A record fifth Palio for this contrada after winning four years ago with a rider-less horse.  Stay in touch for what happens on August 16th.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Splendour of Santa Maria Maggiore

  Today our group visited the remarkable Marian church, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Its inner core with its dazzling mosaics remains intact from the time that it was built around 430 CE in response to the Council of Ephesus, which declared Mary to be the Mother of God. Many additions have been built onto the original basilica over the centuries, reflecting developments and changes in the Catholic Church. As someone who studies decolonial theology and the interplay of Christianity and empire, I was especially fascinated by this church structure, which was built a mere fifty years after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica in 380. While I could not help but be in awe at Santa Maria Maggiore’s grandeur, beauty and sheer size, I also could not help but think about how much of this magnificence came into being at the expense of imperial oppression. The two long rows of pillars running the length of the original church c...

We're Off on the Road to... Assisi!

Last weekend, a few members of our "gang," as Mike calls us, went off to Assisi. When we got there, we saw the tombs of two major saints—Francis and Clare—and, of course, a plethora of gorgeous churches. We also had a chance to meet up with the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, one of whom gave us a tour of "a town that has so much influenced [his] life and, in which, in [his] opinion, the spirit of Francis is so strong!" What can I say, apart from that going to Assisi is like stepping into a Catholic fairy tale? It is a visit that I would highly recommend to anyone—Catholic or not—who wants to explore Italy because even if the basilicas hold no interest for you, its médiéval atmosphere is sure to charm you. There's so much that I could speak about, but one thing that stood out from yesterday in a surprisingly personal way was to see the resting place of Blessed Carlos Acutis. This young man, who died well before his time at 15 years old, is everywhere to be ...

Where we'll be studying in Rome

Some of you have asked about where we're studying in Rome. We'll be at the Centro Pro Unione, a centre that goes back to at least 1948 and has as its mission the promotion of Christian unity. In 1962, the centre was moved to the Phamphilj Palace in one of Rome's most famous squares called Piazza Navona (see picture above - the Centro is in the building on the right). During the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) the centre hosted weekly gatherings of Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant theologians (known as "ecumenical observers") who met with Catholic theologians and Bishops to discuss the work of Council. It was not uncommon for a comment made by one of the observers to be picked up and to find its way into an intervention in the Council hall the next day. In 1968, the centre became officially named the Centro Pro Unione. Today, the Centro promotes Christian unity through its many activities, including the summer Rome Program that we're participating...