Speaker 1: What lasts around ninety seconds and takes over the entire
Speaker 1: city of Siena in Tuscany for four whole days. It's
Speaker 1: an historic horse race that's happening this Thursday, July the
Speaker 1: second Joo. I'm Katie and this is your weekly travel
Speaker 1: update from Untold Italy, recorded on June thirtieth, twenty twenty six.
Speaker 1: This week we are going deeper into one of the
Speaker 1: most extraordinary cultural events you will find anywhere in the world,
Speaker 1: the Paleo d Sienna. If you have ever wondered what
Speaker 1: all of us is about, or how to experience it
Speaker 1: for yourself, this one is for you. Now, let's start
Speaker 1: with the basics. The Paleo is a bareback horse race
Speaker 1: held twice a year in the shell shaped Piazza del Campo.
Speaker 1: The July edition, run on July twelve, is called the
Speaker 1: Palio di Provenzano, and it's named after the Madonna of Provenzano,
Speaker 1: whose miraculous image hangs in a small church just up
Speaker 1: the hill from the Campo. The race has been running
Speaker 1: her honor since fifty six, so a very long time.
Speaker 1: The second race of the year happens on All the
Speaker 1: sixteenth and is called the Paleo Delanta in honor of
Speaker 1: the assumption of the Virgin Mary. Both are taken very
Speaker 1: seriously by the c Andes. There is no hierarchy between them.
Speaker 1: Both winners get the same hand painted silk banner called
Speaker 1: the Drappolonne, the same celebration and the same place in
Speaker 1: city history. The ten riders represent the contrade, which are
Speaker 1: the historic districts of Siena. There are actually seventeen contrada
Speaker 1: in total, each one a tiny world into itself, and
Speaker 1: only ten race in the Paleo, so the other seventeenth
Speaker 1: seven are guaranteed a place in the following year. Each
Speaker 1: contrada has a name, an animal, a color, a flag,
Speaker 1: a church and a museum and a fountain where babies
Speaker 1: born into the contrada are baptized, people marry, fall out,
Speaker 1: make peas, have children and are buried inside the contrada.
Speaker 1: It's not a club, it's an identity. So to understand
Speaker 1: the Paleo and the city of Sienna, you really must
Speaker 1: understand the contrade feel a lot of it just by
Speaker 1: walking through Siena. On this very special week of the race,
Speaker 1: each district is hanging out its flags, painting its emblem
Speaker 1: on the street lamps and gathering in its corner of
Speaker 1: the city. But the best thing to do is chat
Speaker 1: with the locals or visit one of the Contrata museums,
Speaker 1: and you can do that whenever you visit Siena. This
Speaker 1: is actually one of our guests favorite activities on our
Speaker 1: Untold Italy Tuscany tour. So even if you don't make
Speaker 1: it to the race yourself, the four days around it
Speaker 1: are when Siena is most fantastic and most itself. So
Speaker 1: what's happening right now? The horses were assigned by lottery
Speaker 1: on Monday, June twenty nine. From that morning through the
Speaker 1: morning of the race, there are six trial runs in
Speaker 1: the Campo two a day, morning and evening. These are
Speaker 1: practice for the horses and jockeys, and they are also
Speaker 1: very entertaining. They are free to attend, much easier to
Speaker 1: get a spot at, and they all have the color
Speaker 1: and noise of race day with a fraction of the pressure.
Speaker 1: If you want a taste of the plio without committing
Speaker 1: to many hours standing in the sun, this could be
Speaker 1: your move. Now. The evening before the race, there is
Speaker 1: a dress rehearsal known as the Prova Generade and afterwards,
Speaker 1: each competing contrada throws a huge outdoor dinner along the
Speaker 1: streets of its district. Rows of tables filled the lanes.
Speaker 1: Neighbors sit elbow to elbow with the jockey at the
Speaker 1: head table, and songs and toasts carry along into the night.
Speaker 1: Visitors are sometimes welcome, sometimes not, depending on the contrata.
Speaker 1: If you have a connection in town, it is the
Speaker 1: best night of the year. On the morning of the race,
Speaker 1: there is a final trial called the provat. Mass is
Speaker 1: held for the jockeys in the early afternoon in each
Speaker 1: competing contrata's own church. The horse for the contrata is
Speaker 1: let inside and blessed by the priest. The priest sends
Speaker 1: them out with the words The priest sends them out
Speaker 1: with the words, go and return victorious. Then, from around
Speaker 1: four pm, the corteos Dorrigo forms up. Hundreds of people
Speaker 1: in fourteenth century costume with drums, flag frows and trumpets
Speaker 1: wind from the Duomo down to the Campo. The race
Speaker 1: itself goes at seven thirty pm. It is three laps.
Speaker 1: It lasts less than ninety seconds. Then the winning contrada
Speaker 1: erupts and the celebrations begin. If you want to be
Speaker 1: the campo for the race itself, you need to plan carefully.
Speaker 1: Free Standing in the center of the piazza is open
Speaker 1: to everyone, but it feels very early in the day
Speaker 1: and the gates close once the square is at capacity.
Speaker 1: You really want to be inside by five pm, but
Speaker 1: I would say actually much earlier, which means at least
Speaker 1: two to three hours on your feet in the sun
Speaker 1: before the race even starts. You'll need to bring water.
Speaker 1: Do not expect a bathroom, or if you need to go,
Speaker 1: you're probably going to lose your spot. Balcony and grandstand
Speaker 1: seats exist, but they start at around two hunty euros
Speaker 1: and run into the thousands, and they sell out months
Speaker 1: in advance. For most travelers, the evening trial races during
Speaker 1: the week are a much easier and cheaper way to
Speaker 1: experience the campo in Paleo mode. A note on Siena itself.
Speaker 1: The city is small, walkable, full of contrada museums, deep
Speaker 1: medieval atmosphere and some of the best sweet treats in Tuscany.
Speaker 1: If you have not listened to episode two h NIVEH
Speaker 1: of the podcast, where I sat down with local tour
Speaker 1: guide at Anareta Farranti, I really recommend it. She talks
Speaker 1: about how the contrata really live and breathe, and what
Speaker 1: it's like to be born into one, and why the
Speaker 1: palio sits at the center of the c Andes life.
Speaker 1: She talks about how the contrata really live and breathe,
Speaker 1: what it's like to be born into one, and why
Speaker 1: the palio sits at the center of cienes life all
Speaker 1: year round, not just on two days. It will give
Speaker 1: you a much richer picture of what you are looking
Speaker 1: at if you do go. Now. If all of this
Speaker 1: sounds wonderful but the crowds and logistics feel like a
Speaker 1: little bit too much, we do have an alternative. We
Speaker 1: could not get a car space at three pm one
Speaker 1: year when we arrived in Siena for an event there,
Speaker 1: but in over ITTs so it was much easier. Local
Speaker 1: people drive in from all over the surrounding countryside for
Speaker 1: these things, so you need to be organized, but it's
Speaker 1: just not on the same scale. The event that we
Speaker 1: love in Eritzzo is the Giostra del Saracino. It is
Speaker 1: a jousting tournament between the four quarters of the city.
Speaker 1: Pairs of knights gallop at full speed across the sloping piazzada,
Speaker 1: and they strike a wooden figure called the Burrato, the
Speaker 1: King of the Indies, who spins around on his pivot
Speaker 1: and strikes back if they're not so quick. The next
Speaker 1: edition runs on Sunday, the September the sixth, which is
Speaker 1: the ultun fiftieth anniversary of the Palio. So that's incredible.
Speaker 1: There are hundreds of participants in fourteenth century costume corteostorico
Speaker 1: of the same caliber acienas and the same fierce neighborhood pride.
Speaker 1: Tickets and standing spots are much more available, and a
Speaker 1: reds in itself is a beautiful Tuscan city. While you're there,
Speaker 1: you can see the Piero de la Francesca, frescoes in
Speaker 1: the Basilica di San Francesco, browse the famous antiques markets
Speaker 1: on the first weekend of the month, and eat very
Speaker 1: very well. This is one of the things we love
Speaker 1: most about Italy. These traditions are not put on for tourists.
Speaker 1: They are how Italians live year in year out, celebrating
Speaker 1: the same traditions, often for centuries. There are dozens of parali,
Speaker 1: giostra and faih stare like this all over the country
Speaker 1: and we curate them inside the Untold Italy app so
Speaker 1: you can plan your trip around what is happening on
Speaker 1: the dates you are traveling. It's the easiest way we
Speaker 1: know how to feel part of the country rather than
Speaker 1: just passing through. That's your update for this week. Our
Speaker 1: usual programming continues this Friday with a look at how
Speaker 1: you can travel with kids throughout Italy. So until then,
Speaker 1: it's chow for now.