The Palio of Siena is an ancient competition of horses and men that has been run in the Piazza of Siena since the 1700’s, with roots going further back to the middle ages.   A bareback, no-holds-barred race held in the city’s main piazza, Siena’s Palio is more than a horse race; with both secular and religious overtones, the Palio is a four-day cultural event that relives the glory of Siena’s medieval past and is the lifeblood that feeds the city and its residents.   If you happen on Siena during the days of the Palio, it’s exciting and easy to get caught up in the energy that envelopes the city.   But actually living all four days and experiencing each important event along with the Sienese people is a rare opportunity to share in the passion and history of what has been labeled the world’s best sporting event.

In the fourteen years I lived in the Siena area, it was my good fortune to be accepted into the Selva contrada, one of the seventeen neighborhoods that make up the city and compete in this ancient race. I’ve attended every Palio since July 2000, with the exception of last summer when my mother passed away.   When people find out I live in Siena, many ask me “Gina, do you go to the Palio?!” If you’re serious about the Palio, you don’t go to see it, you LIVE it!  And for the four days of the Palio of July and that of August, like so many Sienese, I don’t work or teach any classes because, honestly, living the Palio takes up too much time to do anything else!  It’s a rare honor for a foreigner to belong to a contrada in Siena, whether that foreigner is from Arezzo, Rome, or America.  I am fiercely proud to be a member of such a victorious and honorable contrada.   (We’ve won more races than any other since the end of WWII but that’s because we use better strategy, play fair but are the cleverest, and hence, the first contrada in the field!) 

The Palio is the most important event in the calendar year in Siena and is taken very seriously.  It is not a tourist event staged to draw more tourists into the city; it is a celebration of Siena’s proud heritage and gives meaning to its present and future. 

For the first time this year, my sister Mary and her husband will attend.  Mary was on the other end of the phone when I called sobbing with joy after our victory in August 2006.  She has attended two victory celebrations with me, both in 2006 and 2010; she’s met countless dignitaries, Selva members and jockeys through the years; and she’s helped us cook in the contrada on numberless occasions.  I’m excited that she’ll finally be able to see the actual race, one where Selva is running and sure to be attempting another victory.

And you can come too.  This year for the first time we’re offering to our clients a special Palio tour for the week of June 27 to July 4.  Together we’ll attend the event where they pick and assign the horses, see the trial races, study the horses and jockeys running, and discuss the possibilities all while eating sumptuous Tuscan dinners and drinking delicious Tuscan wines at our lovely estate in the country just outside the city.  An estate where they actually held a special Palio in the 1700’s in honor of a Pope who was elected from the Chigi family of Siena! 

The night before the race we’ll attend the special dinner in the Selva held in anticipation of a victory, and the day of the race we’ll be on the best balcony in the Piazza with an exceptional view of the whole course, start to finish.  And if the Selva wins, I’ll be launching myself over the railing to join my fellows in a raucous celebration!

I’m excited to be back in the Piazza, to hear the pounding of the horses’ hoofs on the tufo, to hear the tolling of the ancient tower bell, to once again feel the anxious anticipation of joyous victory or agonizing defeat, to be in communion with the lovely people of Siena for whom this race is everything and enough.

If you would like to join us for this fantastic event, please contact either Mary or myself.

marystipopotter@yahoo.com

ginastipo@yahoo.com

viva il Palio, viva la Selva!