il palio.

Buongiorno!

We, that is myself and three other girls, arrived in the Piazza del Campo at 2 in the afternoon, approximately 3 hours before the parade was to begin, and 5 hours before the race was scheduled to be run. At first we found some shade to sit in, but the piazza was slowly, but surely, filling up. We decided around 2:30 that we should move into the piazza itself. We found a great spot right by the fence that ran around the inside of the track, right in the centre of the bottom of the piazza. We spent a long afternoon in the sun waiting for something to happen. Thankfully, we were able to sit, it didn’t get crowded until we had been there for an hour or two.

At around 5 the historic parade began. Contrada members dressed in medieval costume paraded around the piazza along the track. There was flag-throwing and instrument-playing. There was flag-throwing for each of the seventeen contrade (plural of contrada), even though only ten participate in the race. Seven of the ten are the contrade that didn’t get to run in the last race. The other three are decided by draw. There were also people dressed up in knight costumes with the visors drawn down. These are to represent the dead contrade. There used to be more than seventeen contrade, although I’m not quite sure how many more, or what happened to them. Unfortunately, the flag-throwers didn’t parade in front of the Palazzo Pubblico (which is where we were standing), so we weren’t able to see much. However, later our position was to be rewarded. After the flag-throwing was over, a large “triumphal chariot” pulled by 4 huge, white oxen made its way majestically around the track. The members of the parade sat in the stands across from us, in front of the Palazzo Pubblico. They sat in groups according to which contrada they belonged to. This is when we were rewarded for our position. A drummer and flag-bearer for each contrada came out and spread across the stretch of the track right in front of us. It was pretty amazing how the drumming built up the excitement. I could feel my heart start beating a little quicker, and everyone was cheering.

Then the horses came out, jockeys riding on their bare backs. This race is very exciting, not only because of the way it shapes the city and the celebration and tradition surrounding it, but also because it is dangerous. The jockeys ride bare back, and it is common for at least one to fall off. This doesn’t matter for the race though, it is the horse, not the jockey, that wins the race. It is also very dangerous for the horses themselves. About fifty have died in the past thirty years.
The jockeys aren’t from Siena, they come in just for the race and are assigned to the horse. The contrade do deals between each other to try and get the best rider. However, jockeys also make deals between each other, and can be paid off to lose the race. The horses are assigned to each contrada by draw, and cannot be changed.

Each jockey directed their horse to stand in front of the contrada members, and the contrada members yelled encouragement to their horse. The horses then proceeded around the track to the starting point, which was unfortunately on the other side of the piazza. The centre of the piazza was absolutely crowded, although I heard it wasn’t as packed as other years because of the economy.

All of a sudden, a hush fell over the crowd. No one had said anything, but all of a sudden everyone was silent, including all the tourists. I found this one of the most amazing moments. There were thousands of people, but you could have heard a pin drop. Then they started announcing the order the horses had to line up in. I believe this has something to do with who won in the first trial run. The horse running on the inside of the track has an advantage over the horse running on the outside of the track. Also, I believe that one horse is supposed to decide when to start running. Believe it or not, it took an hour and a half to get it right. There were three false starts. Personally, because of my cold, I had to sit on the ground for most of the hour and a half so I didn’t pass out. There were quite a few people who passed out, which isn’t surprising considering the heat, the physical exertion of standing, and the proximity of the crowd. Thankfully I didn’t. Finally, the race was run. The horses run three laps around the piazza, and it was over in less than two minutes. Civetta (owl) won. It was amazing to be there for this particular victory. The Civetta was the nonna, or grandmother. This means they were the contrada that had gone the longest without winning. In fact, the last time they won was 1979. Now they are the “baby” of the Palio.

Aquila, or eagle, was second. He was also the one who kept causing the false starts. Since jockeys should know how to handle their horse, this indicates that he was possibly throwing the race on purpose. He was also the only one to fall off his horse. If he wasn’t throwing it intentionally, he had a very bad day. Coming in second is not fun for the jockey. If a horse comes in second, the contrada assumes the jockey could have been first but was paid off and threw the race on purpose. The jockey who came in second gets beat up by the contrada they were running for. Basically, it’s better to come in last than to come in second.

As soon as it was over, we hopped over the fence onto the track, following the example of the locals. It would have been crazy of us not to. Because of our position right in front of the fence, we would have been run over by the crowds behind us trying to hop the fence. We ran from the piazzo to the duomo. We made pretty good time, and the cathedral wasn’t very crowded yet. Shortly thereafter, the Civetta members entered bearing flags and drums, crying, cheering.
They come to the cathedral right away in order to thank the Virgin Mary for letting them win. The Palio is very centred around the Virgin Mary. The August 16th Palio started in the 13th century, and was originally to mark the end of the celebrations for Her assumption. This is also why so much of the Palio, such as the assigning of the horses, is left up to chance. It is assumed that if a contrada gets a better horse, it is because the Virgin Mary wanted them to.

After the celebration in the cathedral, the contrada members paraded around the city with the pallium. The pallium is a banner made from some sort of precious material, and the victorious contrada receives the banner as a reward. This is actually where the name “Palio” comes from. I know the parading around the city lasted for at least 3 days, but as far as I know, they might still parade around in the evenings. I was in Rome Wednesday and Thursday. Anyway, the celebrations usually go on for months. The contrada members all eat together outside.
The thing I find the most amazing about the Palio is the way in which it shapes the city. According to my guidebook, it is almost as if time is measured solely by how much time there is until the next Palio. There is an intense feeling of community within each contrada. I can see it by the way they come together every night to eat dinner together. I’m guessing it is volunteers that prepare and serve dinner. Preparations for the next Palio start soon after the last one is finished.

Oh, by the way, most of my pictures of the horses are either from a trial run, the dress rehearsal, or the false starts. The actual race was so fast, and there were so many people pushing for a good position to take photos from, that I couldn’t get any clear pictures.
Also, just to let you know, I’m also going to publish another post, due to a request I recently had (thanks mom! :P). It’ll give you a bit of an idea how to pronounce some basic Italian. Just so that when you see the name of a city or some other Italian word I use in my blog, you know how to pronounce it. That’ll come just after this one!

Sorry for not posting all week! I’ve been sick, and quite busy. I went to Rome Wednesday night, which was pretty amazing. Expect a few more posts this weekend. :)

The halfway point of my trip was this past Monday, but somehow 5 days have passed, and I have about 2 weeks left! I have a lot to do in the next two weeks, and I think I’m going to be home before I know it! I’m looking forward to seeing everyone back home!!

Miss and love you all!
Ciao <3