Palio of Siena

Tour along the main streets, Duomo and Campo Square, highly focused on the Districts and the Palio of Siena

Will you learn every secret of the Palio?
The Palio is a collective rite, religion, superstition, fortune, strength, money are the ingredients of this very special event.
The Palio takes place twice a year, on 2nd July and on 16th August, when only ten districts run the race, but, according to very old rules, all of the Contradas are protagonists of the event. Fate chooses some districts…and not only…
The Palio is dedicated to Mother Mary, but cabbala has still an important role.

The horse is the protagonist of this event whose roots go back to the military companies settled in Siena in the Middle Ages. The running Districts bless their horse in the Oratory, their small church, before reaching the Duomo square where a parade starts. All the Districts wear traditional costumes and the parade unwinds itself through the town and reaches the Piazza del Campo. It definitely has a clear military connotation. After that the horse race starts, but what seems to be just a horse race, is actually a battle among ten horses and their jockeys.

The jockey is a mercenary, a jockey leading a Contrada to victory is paid by the district itself. But how much money does a jockey get from the people of the winning district? Who are the jockeys really ?