Some experiences aren’t simply occasions; they’re the heartbeat of a spot, even the heartbeat of a lifetime. And for me, that’s the Palio di Siena.
However first, let’s return to February sixth,1983. The Winds of Warfare premiered that evening, and the primary episode featured Siena. At sixteen, I longed for love and Italy—and it was Siena, specifically, and thereafter, that captured my creativeness and stuffed my desires. The central love affair between Byron Henry and Natalie Jastrow unfolded all through the sequence however started in a villa’s library on the outskirts of Siena. They first laid eyes on one another earlier than that particular cathedral, immediately recognizable for its hanging black and white striped marble facade, which displays town’s symbolic colours.
Bryon and Natalie fell in love whereas researching historical past, picnicking on the hills, and attending the Palio, a medieval (actually) horse race in Italy.
What may very well be higher?
I grew to become obsessed. I purchased, learn, and reread Herman Wouk’s books. I immersed myself in World Warfare II historical past. I avidly learn a New Yorker essay on the Palio that defined the Contrade, the 17 wards of town, and the way they created group and maintained rivalries that went again centuries. The Contrade and their symbols entranced me.
They originated within the Center Ages as navy corporations created to defend town. Over time, as Siena grew to become a affluent republic and later a part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Contrade developed into social and civic establishments that organized group occasions, educated youth in custom, and supported members in occasions of want. By the 18th century, the variety of Contrade was lowered to 17 from over 50.
Being born right into a Contrada is sort of a birthright. Every particular person is baptized twice in Siena—as soon as in church and as soon as of their Contrada‘s fountain. That’s so Italian! Loyalty runs deep, usually passing from era to era. Every Contrada has a motto, a fountain (used for baptism), a museum of Palio victories, an oratory (chapel), and its personal flag and marching band. They even baptize the horses that run the race!
Many Contrade have centuries-old rivalries, usually reflecting previous feuds or neighborhood conflicts. The Tartuca vs. Chiocciola is among the many most bitter as they share a border and a tense historical past (which, I child you not, is the tortoise vs. the snail!) These rivalries play out with spirited chants, symbolic gestures, and even makes an attempt to dam the opposite Contrada‘s Palio efforts—however all inside a framework of honor and custom. It’s simply superb!
The 17 Contrade of Siena are:
- Bruco (Caterpillar) – Inexperienced caterpillar
- Chiocciola (Snail) – Crimson snail
- Civetta (Little Owl) – Owl
- Drago (Dragon) – Winged dragon
- Giraffa (Giraffe) – Giraffe with a crown
- Istrice (Porcupine) – Porcupine
- Leocorno (Unicorn) – Unicorn
- Lupa (She-Wolf) – She-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus
- Nicchio (Seashell) – Scallop shell
- Oca (Goose) – Goose with a crown and ribbons
- Onda (Wave) – Dolphin over waves
- Pantera (Panther) – Panther
- Selva (Forest) – Rhinoceros beneath an oak tree
- Tartuca (Tortoise) – Tortoise
- Torre (Tower) – Elephant with a tower
- Valdimontone (Ram) – Golden ram
I even purchased a poster depicting the breathtaking, distinctive, shell-shaped brick campo and hung it on my wall throughout my first and second years in faculty. The picture of Siena’s Piazza del Campo served as a continuing echo that appeared to beckon me, and I swore that sometime, I might make it to Siena.
Town transforms Piazza del Campo right into a thundering, historical racetrack with dust and dirt within the shade of siena. Not all 17 contradas are represented—solely 10 are. The 7 Contrade that didn’t race in the identical Palio the earlier yr are mechanically entered, and the remaining three slots are picked by lot.
The Corteo Storico (Historic Parade) takes place earlier than the Palio race.
It’s a grand and meticulously choreographed procession showcasing Siena’s wealthy medieval heritage. That includes greater than 600 individuals, together with drummers, flag-throwers, pages, and knights in armor, every Contrada marches in full historic costume. The parade culminates with the carroccio (a ceremonial chariot bearing the Palio banner), drawn by oxen. The entire ceremony – the individuals, the costumes, the setting – resembles Zeffirelli’s 1968 enchanting rendition of Romeo & Juliet. No marvel I swooned.
After the Corteo, the ten horses and jockeys line up for the race itself in Piazza del Campo—making the transition from ritual to uncooked adrenaline. Ten bareback riders, decked of their Contrada colours, circle 3 times in a livid, passionate blur. They tie mattresses to the treacherous corners as a result of horses and riders usually slam into the partitions. And sure, a riderless horse CAN win!
And belief me, if you happen to search for outdated clips of the Palio, you’ll see that very same bareback, full-commitment power!
I can supply purchasers the distinctive alternative to expertise the Palio from an unique place—whether or not from a window or a balcony of one of many flats overlooking Piazza del Campo.
As well as, you may benefit from the cena della prova generale, a standard family-style dinner shared with locals within the streets of a Contrada. This particular dinner, held in celebration of the upcoming race, is believed to convey good luck and is an unforgettable solution to immerse within the festive spirit, surrounded by the colourful colours and flags of the Contrada.
Sure, my buddies, I made it there. I joined a kind of avenue dinners. As a scholar, I couldn’t afford a seat to see it reside. Plus, I used to be apprehensive concerning the unleashed pleasure of the crowds. (I didn’t need to run with the bulls in Pamplona both!) However to be in Siena whereas this occasion occurred was really extraordinary. Town and its historical past simply pulled me in.
Twelve years after The Winds of Warfare launched me to Siena and the Palio, I traveled there to check regulation for a semester. And people months there modified me and the trajectory of my life.
Two items of public artwork in Siena want mentioning. First, one of the crucial vital and earliest secular artworks of the Center Ages is Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s 14th-century fresco cycle, The Allegory and Results of Good and Dangerous Authorities, and you’ll see it contained in the Palazzo Pubblico. Commissioned by Siena’s ruling council, these murals visually articulate the beliefs and penalties of governance – the very factor I studied that summer season time period. Good Authorities is personified on one wall by a sensible ruler surrounded by virtues equivalent to Justice, Peace, and Magnanimity. Its results are proven in a bustling, harmonious metropolis and fertile countryside—symbols of civic prosperity and ethical order.
In distinction, Dangerous Authorities is dominated by Tyranny, flanked by personifications of Cruelty, Deceit, and Warfare. The panorama is crumbling, residents are afraid, and decay spreads each within the metropolis and past its partitions. Lorenzetti’s masterpiece is a robust political message: governance shapes the soul of a metropolis. These so fascinated me, I purchased prints of each.
The second is the Allegory of the Mount of Knowledge,a mosaic designed by Pinturicchio in 1505 embedded within the flooring of Siena’s Cathedral. I nonetheless bear in mind the story informed by our information that related the traditional Greek philosophers like Plato and Sibyls (pagan prophetesses) to Christianity. In 56 intricate and delightful panels, you see a gaggle of sensible males, together with historical philosophers, climbing a rocky and difficult path in direction of the personification of Knowledge on the summit, a noble pursuit of data and reality. Plato, together with figures like Socrates and Crates of Thebes, seems on the peak of this Mount of Knowledge. The philosophers attempt to succeed in the very best type of knowledge by their mind and ethical fortitude.
That is introduced as an arduous journey, usually with temptations and obstacles symbolized by the winding path, scattered rocks, and even serpents. Renaissance humanists strove to reconcile classical thought with Christian theology, believing historical pagan knowledge may prefigure or level towards Christian reality. That was the primary time I spotted that the Renaissance was greater than a rebirth of the visible arts; it was greater than Michelangelo carving David to seem like a Greek god. This depiction sought to attach the traditional world’s philosophical foundations and considering to Christianity. It mattered a lot that somebody commissioned this unimaginable murals, and that moved me.
I’ve purchasers heading to Siena for a day later this summer season, and I can’t wait to listen to about their expertise.
If YOU want to go to and see the Palio, I’d like to ship you – this yr or subsequent. Simply attain out!