Il Palio di Siena

These are pictures from a visit to the Palio, the twice-yearly horse race on the Piazza del Campo in the centre of Siena in Tuscany, which takes place today. The whole town is involved in this event, which is a competition between the 17 different contradas  (quarters) of the town. We watched the palio, when we took a vacation in Florence a couple of years ago, and went over to Siena for the day and the evening of the race.

The Duomo in Siena is decorated with flags of the Contrade.

The symbols of the different houses do not always depict the fastest animals ...

It is a long afternoon until the race finally starts after sundown. Before the race, in the different quarters of the town, horses are led to the local churches and receive a blessing amid the crowds. Ballots are drawn to assign horses to the contradas. The jockeys are mostly external hired professionals. 

Seats on the piazza are leaning rather precariously against the old buildings.

 The piazza has been prepared with loamy sand for the horses and dangerous curves have been upholstered . 

Before the race, the contrades parade with costumes, the horses are shown around , flagbearers show their artistry. Four white bulls pull the carriage with the honoraries and the banner, the palio, for the winner ...

This horse is not too happy ...

and needs some caresses by his owner.

. 

The race finally starts around sun-down. 

They start the race with a pistol shot and two simple ropes - therefore we had a couple of false starts and the race took place in the dark which led to rather grainy photographs. The whole group races three times around the piazza. 

First man down.

Second man down.

Horses continue even without rider. 

The race lasts no more than 2 minutes. The horse, that crosses the finishing line first, wins - even if it has lost its rider before. A great tribute to the abilities of the horses! Many horses lose their riders on this tight course - and as they ride without saddles, it takes quite some skill to stay on top. 

The Winner: the Owl! 

The race is over. 

Good Luck!