... chanism of ritualised control of tensions within the community. All the adrenalin released during the summer in fact renders Siena one of the most peaceful and liveable cities in Italy. Nevertheless, after watching the beautiful as it is long historical procession in local costume that crosses the entire city, during which every contrada exhibits its flag and thus its bravado, and after the horses of the ten contradas which that year are competing for the Palio, after having been blessed by the priest, enter onto the racetrack to be greeted by the roar of the crowd, the tension climbs, and it is difficult not to be infected: you may even find yourself shouting, for some strange reason, for one of the contradas.

Each contrada has its allies and enemies amongst the other contradas, and the ultimate goal, rather than winning the Palio, is in fact to make the rival contradas lose. Therefore, once the horses are between the ropes and are getting ready for the start, rivers of money flow from the tongues of the jockeys, who, under orders from their contradas, seek to corrupt the other jockeys with the hope of hitting on a winning tactic or at least disturbing the adversary. All this, which is in fact part of the unwritten rules of the game, at times makes the start extremely unnerving both for the public and for the horses, which, it is claimed, are often doped, and which, after two or three false starts, these too intentionally caused in the hope of wearing down the favourites, lose their concentration.

Once the horses have broken into a crazy gallop along the dirt racetrack that runs around the edge of the piazza, they take about a minute and a half to complete the three laps. Often the jockeys, who ride bareback, are unseated at the extremely dangerous curve of San Martino that they have to take downhill, and sometimes the horse continues on its own to win the Palio. As soon as the winning horse, with or without a jockey, crosses the finishing line, the hysteria of its supporters explodes: a shouting, crying crowd rushes to seize the Palio, a piece of painted cloth that is then, together with the horse, taken to the Cathedral in a procession for a solemn Te Deum of thanksgiving. In the evening, in the main road of the winning district, a long table of all the supporters, with the horse at its head, celebrate the victory with songs and dances. The following day all will have to dig into their wallets to pay the price agreed upon to their jockey and sometimes, to those of the contradas who have helped the victory along. It’s a strange race where those who win receive no more than a piece of fabric, and, moreover, have to pay out of their own pockets the price of the victory!

Unfortunately, it also frequently happens that the horses have to be put down after disastrous falls. This continues to raise, every time that it happens, ferocious protests on the part of animal rights groups, which, however so far have never managed to prevent the Palio; certainly if the Sienese were stopped from holding this event, such a ritual for them, the whole city would revolt!

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