Palazzo Pubblico

The Siena Duomo

The Mosaic floor and the Porta del Cielo

Ospedale Santa Maria della Scala

Palazzo Piccolomini and the Archivio di Stato di Siena

Basilica dei Servi

Some of the best Restaurants in Siena 

Food shopping addresses in Siena

L’Orto de’Pecci

The Palio

Foundation of Siena

Sienese School of Painting

Fonti di Siena

 

The Siena area

 

 






 

             
 

Siena Palio-Fahnen 20030815-360.jpg

I T Banners of the city's contrade sold before the race. (A contrada is a district, or a ward, within an Italian city.) [1]

 

 
       
   


Siena | Il Palio di Siena | The Palio Horse Race in Siena

 

   
   

The Palio Horse Race in Siena and Ferragosto

The Feriae Augusti ("Festivals [Holidays] of the Emperor Augustus") were introduced by the emperor Augustus in 18 BC. This was an addition to earlier ancient Roman festivals which fell in the same month, such as the Vinalia rustica or the Consualia, which celebrated the harvest and the end of a long period of intense agricultural labor. The Feriae Augusti, in addition to its propaganda function, linked the various August festivals to provide a longer period of rest, called Augustali, which was felt necessary after the hard labour of the previous weeks.

During these celebrations, horse races were organised across the Empire, and beasts of burden (including oxen, donkeys and mules), were released from their work duties and decorated with flowers. Such ancient traditions are still alive today, virtually unchanged in their form and level of participation during the Palio dell'Assunta which takes place on 16 August in Siena. Indeed, the name "Palio" comes from the pallium, a piece of precious fabric which was the usual prize given to winners of the horse races in ancient Rome.[2]

During the festival, workers greeted their masters, who in return would give them a tip. The custom became so strongly rooted that in the Renaissance it was made compulsory in the Papal States.[3]

The modern Italian name of the holiday comes directly from the Latin name.[4]

According to Richard Overy, author of A History of War in 100 Battles, the Ferragosto Holiday was introduced by Gaius Octavius 'Augustus' after his victory over Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium on 2 September, 31 BC.


   
   

Mappa Piazza del Campo, Siena| Ingrandire mappa


 
   

 

Galleria fotografica Siena

Siena | Galleria fotografica

 

   
  Panorama del Terzo di Città dalla Torre del Mangia   Fonte Gaia (Siena)

Vista meravigliosa dall Archivio di Stato sulla Torre del Mangia e su parte della piazza del Campo

 

  Panorama del Terzo di Città dalla Torre del Mangia   Fonte Gaia
Siena, Palio, mappa delle contrade 1904

  Il Palio di Siena luglio 2008 4    

Siena, Palio, mappa delle contrade 1904

 

  l Palio di Siena luglio 2008    


Traveling in Tuscany | The Palio di Siena 

Videos of recent editions | Video Palio di Siena



[1] Photo by Wpopp, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
[2] Lodovico Antonio Muratori, Dissertazioni sopra le antichità italiane, Barbiellini, Roma, 1755, tomo II, pag. 32
[3] Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, Tipografia Emiliana, Venezia, 1843, volume XXIII, pag. 155
[4] Pianigiani, Ottorino (1907). "Vocabolario etimologico della lingua italiana" (in Italian).