The Palio culminates the ongoing rivalry between Siena's 17 contrades or neighborhoods. The contrades have their horse riders or jockeys. The ten contrades will be selected by a drawing twenty days before the race. The ten contrades will participate for the July race and the other seven contrades (who were not picked up for the July race) will compete for the August race with three other contrades from the first race held in July. Horses are assigned to the riders by a draw three days before the race. The horses should be of mixed breed and no purebred horses are allowed.
The event takes place in Piazza del Campo, it starts with a mass, a trial run and blessing of the horses. The race starts with the marching of the Corteo Storico all dressed in medieval costumes playing medieval music and bearing and waving flags. At about 7PM the race is set to begin, the riders will race around the Piazza del Campo for three laps. The racetrack is covered with dirt, tuff and padded crash barriers. The line-up of horses is decided by lottery and when the starting rope is dropped the race officially starts. The race is usually finished in 90 seconds. Surprisingly the winner of the race is not the jockey but the horse who first crossed the finish line, regardless if it finished with or without its jockey.
The winning horse and jockey of the contrade is awarded the palio or victory flag, it is a banner of handpainted silk. Winning the palio gives pride to the contrade for which the horse and its jockey belong too. This festival is the pride of Italy's Tuscan region and the medieval town of Siena.
Photo Credit: The Race of the Palio
Photographer: Jakried
Photo Stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/53769668@N06/
Photo Credit: The Corteo
Photographer: Sylvain Boursot
Photo Stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26600187@N08/with/4738866372/
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