Italy – The Palio di Siena: the most famous equestrian tradition in the world!

The tradition of the Palio is so ancient that it does not have a certain date for its origins, as indeed there is no precise information for the foundation of the city of Siena, which in the myth begins with a “palio” in the long run, run by the children of Remo, Senio and Aschio, who came to the city after the escape from Rome. What is certain is that the Palio is as old as Siena, and its history is forever intertwined with that of the city. In the golden age of the Sienese Republic – 150 years between the beginning of the thirteenth century and the mid-fourteenth century – the Palio was the solemn and final moment to celebrate Our Lady of the Assumption in the mid-August feasts. Discover now all our trips, tours, holidays and horse trekking in Italy. It was obviously a palio in a different form from the current one; at the beginning of 1300 there were already palios in the long run – even with horses without jockey – and the winner – who reached the ancient Cathedral after starting from one of the city gates – was given a “pallium”, a banner of precious fabric, which would later give the festival its name.

In this edition (2018), the horse of the contrada del Drago (district of Dragon) won the competition and the Palio della Madonna di Provenzano, held on the evening of 2 July in Piazza del Campo in Siena. For the contrada del Drago it is the thirty-eighth Palio won in history while for his jockey Andrea Mari known as “Brio” it is the sixth success in Piazza del Campo. For the horse Rocco Nice it is instead the first victory. Today’s Palio took place at sunset after the “mossa” (the start of the Palio decided by a running horse) lasted about an hour due to the continuous obstacles between rival districts, which today were six in all. The starter had to call the horses out of the canape four times and invalidate two starts before the Chiocciola was able to run in to start the three laps of the race. The custom of celebrating as many evenings as there are victories is very funny… the contrada del Drago will therefore end the celebrations in late August !!