IL PALIO!

Today is the day all of Siena has been waiting for… Il Palio! Ana Rose and I met up with other CET girls at 11am to visit Monte dei Paschi, the oldest bank in the world, founded in 1472. On the day of the Palio, the bank opens up to the public its private art collection for anyone who wants a free tour. The tour was all in Italian, so it was a difficult for me to understand since I am unfamiliar with art terminology in Italian, but we saw some unique pieces, such as Crocifissione (The Crucifixion) by Pietro Lorenzetti, who we’ve learned about in my Art and Architecture class. After having leftovers from last night’s delicious vegetable pasta and sweet/sour peppers, we went with Stella to watch the Palio parades.

We went of course first to Drago to see the procession into San Domenico, Drago’s church where they bless the horse. We first went inside the church where men dressed in purple and green hand-stitched velvet medieval costumes and in metal armor paraded in. They had a flag show, twirling and throwing Drago’s flag into the air. Then everyone crowded around the chapel that holds Saint Catherine’s head and sang a prayer (“te deum”), ending of course with “Dra-Dra-Drago!” Everyone then rushed outside to watch the actual Drago horse that is racing in the Palio be brought to the church. The priest splashed holy water on the horse as the crowd grew silent and watched him bless the horse, telling the jockey to come back a winner. Afterward, we followed Stella to Piazza Salimbeni to watch all of the contradas meet and perform a flag show. Stella knew all of the shortcuts to bypass the crowds and where to stand for the best view. Next, instead of following the tourists to Piazza del Campo, we went with Stella to the area where all of the Italian locals go to see the procession into the Piazza. All of the Italian girls line the streets of the Onda contrada area to cheer the men in the parade for their contrada. It was an incredible sight, and the energy of all of the girls and women singing their contrada’s song was very exciting. Tourists, unaware of the parade’s route, go into the Piazza to watch them file in, but it’s hard to see because of the crowd. Instead, Ana Rose and I (thanks to Stella!) saw the entire parade pass by only one foot in front of us! The costumes were amazing! First dignitaries of Siena passed by followed by a band, playing trumpets, drums, etc. Then each contrada followed, wearing the medieval costumes in their colors or armor, leading a horse (not the one racing!), and displaying their flag. The sights and sounds were electrifying. With Siena’s medieval buildings in the background and the parade passing by, it truly felt as if we’d step back to the start of the Palio in the 1200s. All 10 contradas racing went first, followed by the seven not racing this time. Then another round of all the contradas proceeded past, this time displaying flags of their historic professions. For example, Drago was founded by bankers and Bruco (caterpillar) by silk-workers. After the parade ended, Stella led us to the entrance to the Piazza (they close all of the other entrances). She went back home to watch the race on TV, and Ana Rose and I braved our way through the crowds into the Piazza – At the start of the race there are 60,000 people crammed into the Campo!! We made our way to one of the sides for a good view of the horses passing by. This was at 5:45, so we had to wait until 7:45 when the race starts. However, the Piazza was already packed at this time because they shut the entrance at 6:30. We watched the parade finish processing into the Piazza, and it ended with six contradas that used to exist but were absorbed into other contradas in past wars. These contradas were represented by men in armor on horses, with their helmets closed (since they no longer exist) but their symbol on top of the helmet. Then, the Palio was brought in and circled around the Piazza. A palio is a banner, which is literally all the winning contrada receives! Each year, Siena selects a different artist to design the Palio with various events from the year. Next, right before the horses and jockeys came out, each contrada threw their flag in the air, because the tradition is that whichever flag is thrown the highest will be the contrada that wins the Palio. And then the horses came out around the Piazza! Everyone was cheering then suddenly the 60,000 person crowd silent. Everyone was shushing those around them because the order of the lineup was about to be announced. As each contrada was called, either quiet cheers or boos would be called out. The next part of the Palio was very interesting because the horses circled up and got in line in the order they were called. However, because it is difficult to have 10 horses stay in position, they had to come out of the line, re-circle, then re-line up five times. Meanwhile, the crowd was growing impatient! However, Laura who was standing next to us (an Italian roommate whom we happened to see) told us that last year, it took an hour and half for the horses to lineup! Thankfully, we only had to wait 15 minutes, and then suddenly they were off! The race started right after 8pm and ended within 90 seconds! The horses circled the Piazza three times around, with Onda (Wave/dolphin), Niccio (Shell), and Selva (Rhino with a tree on its back) all vying for first the entire time. (Drago, sadly, got off to a very slow start.) In the course of the race, three jockeys fell off from Lecorna (Unicorn), Aquila (Eagle), and Giraffa (Giraffe) – which was very scary! Two of the horses collided after running into the wall on a turn, and the jockeys were thrown to the ground (we saw the reruns on TV afterward). The atmosphere was so exciting, especially when the horses raced by where we were standing! Selva came out the victor with Niccio in second! Onda was almost second, and its jockey was hitting Selva’s horse and trying to knock its jockey off! The crowd erupted as soon as the ending shot was fired, and everyone from Selva jumped over the wall and gathered around the horse and jockey. Meanwhile, everyone from Niccio was horrified, and women burst out sobbing. Men from Niccio were about to start a fight they were so angry, and Laura told us to get out of the Piazza as quickly as we could because Niccio is notorious for being fighters! Getting out was an easier feat said than done because Selva paraded around the Piazza with the Palio than started the procession to its church to thank the Virgin Mary for the win. On the way back to Stella’s, we saw a significant trail of blood from the Piazza to where the ambulances were stationed – probably from the horses and jockeys that fell.

We were back at Stella’s around 8:30pm, and re-watched the race on TV with Stella and Leno. It was good to re-watch it since it’s difficult to see the entire race since it’s so crowded and fast! But nothing compares to the energy felt in the Piazza during the Palio! Around 9:30, Stella served us dinner – her ragu pasta with sautéed peas mixed in and cantaloupe and prosciutto for the second course. The conversation obviously was centered on reliving the excitement of the Palio! Around 11, Ana Rose and I headed back to the Piazza for about 30 minutes because on the night of the Palio, candles are lit on top of all of the buildings encompassing the Piazza. It’s very scenic, but the streets and Piazza were still so crowded! Selva continued to celebrate with drums and flags parading down the street, and they will continue to celebrate for a month until the second (and last) Palio race of the year on August 16. Today was definitely a memorable moment, especially one we could not miss while living in Siena! Tomorrow, Ana Rose and I are off to Lucca for the day! Ciao…