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.
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
Post a Comment