Palio is the name given in Italy to an annual athletic contest, very often of a historical character, pitting the neighbourhoods of a town or the hamlets of a comune against each other. Typically they are fought in costume and commemorate some event or tradition of the Middle Ages, and thus often involve horse racing, archery, jousting, crossbow shooting, and similar medieval sports. Once purely a matter of local rivalries, many have now become events staged with an eye to visitors and foreign tourists. In Italy, the commune (comune, plural comuni) is the basic administrative unit of both provinces and regions, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Horse-racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example, as was the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. ... Archers in Competition Archery is the practice of using a bow to shoot arrows. ... Depiction of a late 13th century joust in the Codex Manesse Jousting scene, by Jörg Breu the Elder (1510s, pen and black ink over black chalk) Jousting is a competition between two knights on horse-back, wherein each knight tries to knock the other off his mount. ... A crossbow is a weapon that fires projectiles called crossbow bolts or quarrels. ...
The most famous is undoubtedly the Palio di Siena; but there are hundreds of others throughout Italy. The Palio di Siena (known locally as the Palio delle contrade), the most famous palio in Italy, is a horse race held twice each year on July 2 and August 16 in Siena, in which the horse and rider represent one of the seventeen contrade, or city wards. ...
The Palio di Siena (known locally as the Palio delle Contrade), the most famous palio in Italy, is a horse race held twice each year on July 2 and August 16 in Siena, in which the horse and rider represent one of the seventeen Contrade, or city wards.
The first race (Palio di Provenzano) is held on July 2, which is both the Feast of the Visitation and the date of a local festival in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano (a painting once owned by the Sienese leader Provenzano Salvani, which was supposed to have miraculous curative power).
In the Palio held on August 16, 2004 the horse for the Contrada of the Bruco (Caterpillar) fell and was badly trampled as the race was not stopped, despite possible additional safety risks for other horses.
The Palio is run to celebrate the miraculous apparition of the Virgin Mary near the old houses that belonged to Provenzano Salvani in the mid 1600’s.
The other Palio, on july 2nd was run for the first time in 1701 in honour of the "Madonna dell'Assunta" the patroness and advocate of Siena through all it’s tragic events.
The Palio is a secular historical tradition strictly connected with the origin of the Contrade of Siena (districts into which the town is divided).
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