Siena: Il Palio

The famous Palio horse race in Siena only lasts about 90 seconds, but the memories will last a lifetime.  Imagine a giant crowd squished into one of the most beautiful medieval town squares screaming in excitement as horses with jockeys riding bareback fly past you just an arms distance away, kicking dirt in your face as they round the most precarious corner of the square.  If you have seen James Bond Quantum of Solace, the opening chase scene takes place in the middle of the race chaos. We dreamed of visiting Siena and watching the Palio for years and can’t believe that we finally made it happen.

We arrived in Siena a couple weeks prior to the race to experience all the Sienese traditions and learn more about the unique history and culture of the contrade.  If you haven’t already, check out our previous blog Siena: Living Amongst the Porcupines to get the background about the contrade and in particular why we chose to cheer for the Civetta (owls) while living in the Istrice (porcupines) neighborhood.

In Siena, the Palio is “life and the essence of the city”.  The contrade work all year to prepare for this event as it can bring much honor and glory to them. The importance of the contrade in the life of the Sienese cannot be overstated.  They are born, baptized, married, and buried within their contrada. Each contrada has its own baptismal fountain.

The Onda (wave) fountain

The Tortuca (tortoise) fountain

The Istrice (porcupine) fountain

They also have their own museum.  We visited the Civetta museum to learn more about our favorite contrada and see the banner from their 2009 Palio victory.

That was the year that we visited Siena for the first time, fell in love with the Sienese way of life, and bought a souvenir Civetta flag.  We also saw one of their oldest victory banners from 1727.

The contrada is a family, and they take care of each other.  From centuries past, they formed allies and enemies with the neighboring contrade due to disagreements over land and other issues.  These still hold true today, so much that the contrade will do anything to make sure their enemy doesn’t win including sacrificing their own chance at victory.  The Palio is a game, not a race.  There is a lot of deal making, called partiti, between the different contrade, between the jockeys, and between the contrade and the jockeys.  The crazy web that is woven still makes the race partly chance, but the contrade with the most money can greatly up their odds by paying off other contrade to win.

Although the actual race is short, there are three days of festivities leading up to the big event.  Even a week out, you can feel the excitement in the air as the Piazza del Campo is transformed into the race track with a thick layer of dirt over the outer cobblestone walkway.

The first event is the selection of the horses.  A bunch of horses race around the track to make sure they are fit for the race, and the leaders of the contrade decide which ten will race this year.  We learned that there is a strategy to this and not all the fastest horses are selected.  The race would be too dangerous if all the horses reached the first precarious curve (90 degrees with downhill slant) at the same time (yes, the curve that we sat near), so slower horses are purposely selected.  Once we learned this fact, we understood the vast array of emotions that were exhibited during the next event: the drawing of the horses.  The contrade get to select their own jockey; however, the horse that each contrada is assigned is completely random.  This event happens on a platform in front of the Palazzo Pubblico in Piazza del Campo.

The first horse was actually assigned to the contrada that we were cheering for – Civetta.  The announcement didn’t get much of a reaction from the crowd. However, when Lupa’s horse was announced, the members lost their minds and massive roars of excitement erupted in the square.

In stark contrast, when Nicchio’s horse was announced, the members of the Nicchio contrada looked devastated. At the time, we had no idea what any of this meant; however, we later learned that Nicchio was assigned a mediocre horse and that Lupa was assigned the same horse that they had when they won the previous Palio.  Back-to-back victories for a contrada is rare in the over 400 years that this race has taken place, and back-to-back with the same horse and jockey is almost unheard of.  Lupa was riding high with confidence having the same horse and same jockey to go for the repeat.  To put their excitement into perspective, the Lupa contrada prior to this most recent victory had not won the Palio in almost 30 years, which was the longest dry spell of any of the contrade.

There are six trial races leading up to the main event.  For each trial race, the horses are paraded through the streets and followed by the contrada members singing and cheering.

 

The purpose of these trial races is to get the horse and jockey acquainted with each other and to test out the track.  In addition, a lot of trash talking and bribery even takes place between the jockeys.  The start line, called the Mossa, is a crazy mass of horses and jockeys.  A key point here is that there isn’t a starting gate. They have to line up in an assigned order between two ropes, but they can push each other and move around as much as they want, which often leads to false starts.

Our tickets for the main event were on the opposite side of the track from the start line as we wanted to sit near the most precarious bend in the track where a lot of action occurs.  So, for the trial races, we lined up in the center of the Campo as close as we could get to the start for a different perspective.  We got great views of the start to better appreciate the craziness of this event.  Getting an up-close view of the horses as they passed by was surreal.

However, the trial races aren’t run with the same intensity and no one really cares who crosses the finish line first.  Most of the horses are just jogging around the track by the end.  There is a fine line between practicing for the race and making sure the horse and rider don’t get injured.

In the three days leading up to the Palio, the daytime is for trial races, and the evening is for partying!  We bought our tickets from one of the coolest guys ever, Jacopo.  Everybody knows Jacopo!  He is very well-connected and has the best seats for the race at his disposal.  When we met up with him to get our tickets, he invited us up to his apartment because he has a window right above the start line with one of the best views.  He introduced us to his girlfriend, and we all sat around chatting for a bit.  They had so much knowledge about the inner workings of the contrade and the Palio, so we were fortunate that they shared so much with us to give greater depth to our experience.  They even invited us to their dinner party two nights before the race!

Italians don’t mess around when it comes to dinner parties.  Or perhaps it was extra special because of the Palio.  Either way, we were blown away by the food and the presentation.  We didn’t realize that we would be treated to a four-course meal.  Here is the poster announcing the menu:

We had quite possibly the best duck ragu ever! We brought Jacapo a bottle of wine to thank him for inviting us.  We had gone to a wine tasting the previous week and selected a special Brunello that the winemaker actually hand paints the labels.  We hoped to impress, but, sure enough, Jacapo knew the winemaker!!  No joke…he knows everybody.  Luckily, he loves their wine and the winemaker and told us that we picked a very fine Italian wine.

The atmosphere for the evening was enhanced by a classical music concert that just happened to be going on below us on Piazza del Campo.

There were about a dozen people at the dinner party with all of us seated at a long table.  The group was quite diverse as well and made for interesting conversations (thankfully everybody spoke English).  The majority were Italians, of course, but there were also two Japanese women who had married local Italians plus a German lady and an American.  Hearing everybody’s story and learning about the mix of cultures was such a unique experience.  We told everybody about our upcoming travel adventures, and they all seemed very excited for us. One of the Italian guys was originally from Florence but now lives in Siena.  He gave us an interesting perspective when he explained that even after hundreds of years, the traditions and emotions run so strong here that someone from Florence is still considered an outsider and “enemy”.  He works at one of the best sandwich shops in town, which we discuss in our Siena food blog here.

Another one of the Italian guys was from Siena and belonged to the Leocorno contrada.  We told him that we had a blast at the Leocorno party the previous weekend and that we thought he had a very beautiful and fun contrada.  Unfortunately, he pointed out that, as fans of Civetta, we were technically enemies.  Oops!!  We had been so busy not liking the Lupa contrada because we were living with Istrice, we forgot to find out who the Civetta enemy was.  Another one of the guests was really bubbly and fun to talk to.  She was from southern Italy and now lives in Siena and runs a vintage clothing shop.  She had randomly invited the other American at the party who was in her shop earlier in the week, and he was the most interesting and controversial of all the people that we met.  He was a musician in Siena investigating a link between Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the oldest bank in the world, and his step-fathers suicide. At the same time, he was under investigation for his involvement in the Sony email hack.  Needless to say he had some amazing stories about stolen documents, being detained while traveling, and being under surveillance.  You couldn’t help but wonder if the room was bugged.

Similar to the night when we partied with Leocorno, the evening ended with shots of a unique Italian liquor.

 

The night prior to the main event is the biggest celebration of all.  Each contrada that is racing hosts a special dinner in honor of the jockey, who sits at the head table with the leaders of the contrada.

There are many songs, speeches, and toasts for a successful race.  The Civetta flag was flying in our Boston apartment all year in anticipation for our trip to Siena, so we didn’t hesitate to choose Civetta as our contrada to party with in preparation for the Palio.  The passion of the Sienese people for their contrada and the Palio runs deep and attending their special dinner was a small peak into their way of life and the love for their contrada.

On race day, a colorful, historic parade called the Corteo Storico preceded the main event and lasted almost two hours.  So, although the race is short, we got to see an amazing choreographed march that showcases the history and tradition of the city and the region.  The parade winds through the city streets first

 

and then finishes in Piazza del Campo.  Each individual, item being carried, costume, and banner has a significance, and here are a few pictures to get a taste of what we saw from our front row seats.

One of the highlights is the performance of the two flag-bearers from each contrada.  They stop at various points in the piazza and in synchrony with their drummer compete against each other in a flag-waving exhibition that includes jumping over the flags, jumping over each other, and a final giant throw into the air.

The performances are judged, and winning brings a lot of honor to the contrada.  Days before the Palio, we could actually hear drumming coming from all parts of town as they prepared for their big moment.  The big finale of the parade is the ceremonial Carroccio (medieval war wagon/altar) pulled by four oxen that carries the painted cloth banner that is awarded to the winning contrada.

Finally, the moment we have all been waiting for.  The cannon fires and the 10 horses with the jockeys riding bareback in the traditional colors of the contrada they represent emerge from the courtyard under Torre del Mangia.

They ride up to the start line area and the shenanigans begin.  This is more than just a horse race.  The jockeys need to use their brains.  As they parade around the course and jostle between the start ropes, the jockeys try to bribe each other and perhaps change alliances at the last minute.  The announcer calls each horse to the start line in order.  The final rincorsa, or “run-in”, horse actually stays behind the ropes, and the race officially starts when that jockey chooses to run between the ropes.  The rincorsa’s chances of winning are very low, but they can control the outcome of the race by watching the other riders and waiting to run in until a moment that may catch their enemy off-guard or an ally in a better position.  Keep in mind that holding a line of nine horses steady is challenging as some horses shy away from the rope and others bunch together.

The square was eerily quiet as the anticipation builds in the crowd.  Finally, the rincorsa charges forward and the horses tear down the track, but a canon goes off.  False start. The whole thing starts over.  Again, the crowd is silent as the horses are called one by one to the start line and the jostling for position ensues.  When the rincorsa bolts through the ropes, the crowd erupts as the horses storm down the track again.  Clean start this time.  Within a few seconds, the horses tear by us at arms distance.  The rush from the flurry of horses, jockeys, and dirt is indescribable.

All horses and jockeys make it around the precarious San Martino bend on the first lap.  The crowd was going crazy with people jumping up and down and screaming as the horses flew through the second lap.

This time, Nicchio’s jockey went down at the San Martino bend.  But, the rule states that a jockey-less horse can still win the Palio.

Drago is in the lead with Lupa closing in.  On the first corner of the third lap, Lupa takes the inside a surges past Drago.

Oh, no!  Can Lupa really win back-to-back after a 30 year drought?  Although they are Istrice’s enemy, we couldn’t help but get excited to see history in the making.  Lupa was able to hold off any final surges and crossed the finish line victorious.  Then, utter chaos.  Lupa fans were jumping down into the track and running to surround the horse and jockey.

All the other contrade raced to aid their jockey and horse and to escort them safely away from the chaos and enemy contrade.  We even jumped down into the mix too.

We picked a good spot because the victory banner was brought right toward us.  People were crying and hugging each other in disbelief and pure joy.  We’ve never seen anything like it.

We followed the Lupa crowd to the big celebration at the Duomo (cathedral) where the jockey

and both banners (since they won back-to-back) were carried up to the alter.

Everyone was singing and chanting.  The whole experience was incredibly moving.  As they brought the jockey back out of the cathedral with the banner, we caught this brilliant moment of the jockey raising his arms to the heavens to celebrate his back-to-back wins. Vittoria!

 

Video of the Palio