Palio di Siena
in Siena, ItalyCategory: Attraction
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Piazza Il Campo, 19-24, 53100 Siena SI, Italy Print route »
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The Palio di Siena (known locally simply as Il Palio) is a horse race that is held twice each year, on July 2 and August 16, in Siena, Italy. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards. The Palio held on July 2 is named Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, a Marian devotion particular to Siena which developed around an icon from the Terzo Camollia. The Palio held on August 16 is named Palio dell'Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.Sometimes, in case of exceptional events or local or national anniversaries deemed relevant and pertinent ones, city community may decide for an extraordinary Palio, run between May and September. The last one was in year 2000, to celebrate the entering of the city in the new century.
A pageant, the Corteo Storico, precedes the race, which attracts visitors and spectators from around the world.
The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid, three times and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds. It is common for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza, and indeed, it is usual to see unmounted horses finishing the race without their jockeys.
