“For the Sienese life story: You’re born…there’s the Palio…and then you die.”
That’s how my friend Roberto explains the importance of Italy’s world-famous horse race, the Palio di Siena, which takes place twice every summer on July 2 and August 16. The city’s residents hurl themselves into the traditional revelry of the event with abandon. While it’s been on hold during the pandemic, I enjoy my memories from a few years ago, watching the race in person for the first time ever.
Siena is divided into 17 neighborhoods, or contrade, of which 10 are selected by a drawing to vie for the coveted Palio banner — and all-important bragging rights. Each competing contrada’s horse is chosen randomly by lottery. The neighborhood then adopts it, showering it with love, washing and grooming it, and keeping it in a five-star stable. The contrade — each with its own parish church, fountain, and square — are staunch rivals. Each contrada is represented by a mascot (porcupine, unicorn, she-wolf, and so on) and a distinctive flag. Its colors are worn and flown all year long, but omnipresent as the race nears….