Imagine if the Kentucky Derby was more like a Roller Derby…staged in Times Square…it might look something like the Palio di Siena.
“Il Palio” is a bi-annual cultural extravaganza in the picturesque Tuscan town of Siena. Quite simply, there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world. So let’s get to know this spectacle a little better, shall we?
It’s one of the oldest continuously held sporting events in the world.
Palio’s origins date all the way back to the 12th Century, but the first “modern” running took place on July 2, 1656, as part of a local celebration of the Catholic church. The race is still held on this day each year, and in 1736, the city council added a second annual Palio, held each year on August 16, in honor of the Feast of Assumption.
The town square is converted into a temporary racetrack.
Siena’s “Old World” city center is known as the Piazza del Campo. Prior to the races, the cobblestone and brick paving is covered with layers of dirt to create a makeshift racetrack. The path is narrow and the turns are seriously tight.
It’s not just a race, it’s Civil War.
Siena is all about its neighborhoods. Currently, the city boasts 17 distinct districts, or contrada, each with its own identity and territory. The races are capped at 10 horses, each one ridden by a representative from one of the districts.
Basically, this is one big turf war for bragging rights disguised as a horse race. Neighborhood pride is the ultimate prize. There are no participation trophies here. You think these people care about a trophy? That’s some Grade-A taunting right there.
(via youtube/Consorzio Tutela Palio di Siena)
The horses go to church.
Like, for real. On Palio’s eve, the competing horses are led into church to be formally blessed by the neighborhood priest.
(via youtube/DGA Productions)
It’s an all-out festival and one of the region’s top tourist attractions.
Suffice it to say, there isn’t much work being done in Siena on race day. In fact, a week long festival known as the Cortero Storico precludes the race because nobody does a festival like the Italians. Over 60,000 people crowd the Piazza on race day. Liz Davoll was in Siena last summer for the July Palio and described the spectacle as quite unforgettable. “The atmosphere is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced. The singing, the chanting of the contrada marching through the streets, the pageantry is beautiful and so old world.”
No saddles, no stirrups, no holds barred.
As if galloping bareback around these insanely tight turns over the hard dirt is not harrowing enough, toss in the fact that it’s basically a free-for-all. Riders not only prod their mounts with sticks, they occasionally use them on each other. Combined with the tight turns and patchwork footing, it’s not uncommon for riders to hit the dirt, but get this—riderless horses can still win the race.
About the horses…
These are not thoroughbreds. In fact, purebreds are forbidden from Palio. Each contrade selects its own horses and run them in trial races in the months leading up to the Palio. The select few must then pass a full veterinary exam. A lottery system then randomly pairs up the contrada with one of the horses.
There will be controversy
The welfare of the Palio horses, and the humanity of the event itself, is of course an ongoing debate. The tight turns, hard riding and temporary footing produce no shortage of spills. From 1970-2007, the fatality rate for horses competing in the race was around 2%. There’s no question the race presents danger to both riders and horses, but as Davoll points out, the Sienese are loyal to their traditions and what the race stands for.
“I had never witnessed such true gratitude and faithful belief in the horses than I saw at The Palio.”
Like Spain’s Las Luminarias, Palio is an old world, spiritual celebration carried out on horseback. Some say it simply goes too far at the expense of the horse and has no place in the modern world, but one thing is for certain: these horse-centered festivals bring people together and represent so much more than sport.
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