Experiencing the Palio of Siena

Before moving to Siena for the summer, neither I nor the other students here really knew what the Palio was. I knew briefly from my father that it was a horse race in Siena that dates back centuries, but I had no idea what it entailed or what it meant to the people of Siena.

When I arrived at IES Abroad, I was able to sign up for the course The Palio and the Contrade of Siena (Contrade pronounced cone-trah-day, the plural of Contrada) with professor Anna Piperato, who is a tour guide here in Siena and a Lupaiola, a member of the Lupa Contrada. In simple terms, a Contrada is a neighborhood in Siena. There are 17 Contrade, all represented by a different animal, who run almost like an individual city—with their own Priore and Capitana, the leaders of the Contrada during peace and war (Palio) times, respectively. The Sienese are extremely passionate about their Contrade and very proud of the Contrada they are from. I don’t think I have ever experienced a passion for a place and a culture as much as anyone from Siena. Only ten Contrade race in each Palio for safety, but even the members of the Contrade that aren’t running are there in the Piazza del Campo, watching with excitement and angst.

I wasn’t sure what to expect at any of the Palio events, but as I kept learning about the process and going to the events I became more and more excited. Even after hearing about the setup of the Piazza del Campo, I couldn’t quite picture what the actual physicality of the race would look like. It was kind of like magic when I walked into the Piazza the day they put the tufo (the sand that the horses race on) down because it seemed like it just appeared out of nowhere.

I went to the first Night Trial, and seeing so many people in the Piazza with the horses at dawn was really exhilarating even though I was very exhausted and didn’t get much sleep. My Italian roommate, Stefania, stayed up all night with her friends to wait for the Night Trial and I got to see her there and hear about her party (even though she was sick). It was really cool to see how fun and important the Palio was even to her, who hasn't been living in Siena for very long. 

In the Palio’s history, the Night Trial was not official. “Night Trial” used to refer to when the horse jockeys (before they had officially agreed to run for any Contrada) would sneak onto the piazza at two or three in the morning to practice running the horses. Once the people of Siena found out about these Night Trials, many of them would stay up late to watch them. Eventually it became a part of the official Palio events. Now, the Night Trials start at 5:30 A.M. in the days leading up to the Prima Prova, the first official trial race after the horses were assigned to each Contrada.