The evening times., 1899-07-01
AN ANCIENT ITALIAN FESTIVAL
The '.Palio" in Siena a Survival From
the Fifteenth Century.


(From the Wide World Magazine)
Among the most celebrated of the sur
viving medieval ''festas" in Italy. nose is
more famous than the ''Palio' of Siena
still held twice annually in that ancient
city-namely, on the feasts of the Ma
donna of Provenzano July y and of the
Assumption of the Virgin august I6)
These 'Palii. especially the latter one
attract vast crowds. At $3.50 o'clock on the
afternoon of the great day the proceedings
commence with the blessing of the horses
and the fantini or jockeys each pair at
the chapel of their own contrada. Before
the race itself each fantino. or jockey. is
confessed by a priest in attendance at the
Palazzo Publico for the purpose. and after
it is over the winner. with his steed pro-
ceeds to church to return thanks for his
victory. great procession of all the
contrade, or city guilds, precedes the final
race and is, in fact, the most beautiful
and interesting part of the show. Each
contrada is represented by eleven of its
members in full fifteenth century costume
At p. m. the piazza is filed with a vast
crowd of expectant people. At signal
given by the firing of gun, a small body
of the mounted Carabinieri proceed to
clear. the course. and when this Is done the
procession appears at the northwest cor
ner Of the square. and moves very slowly,
with frequent pauses. all round it. A more
beautiful sight 1t would be difficult to con-
ceive, especially when the cortege is we'll
round on its course. When it arrives at
the Palazzo Publico the contrade take
their seats on a stand especially erected
for them, and then the race commences
Drums and another gun give signal. and
the riders. appearing from the palace. ride
round to the. northeast corner of the
MO yhor o1 cfr nod
across the course form a sort of pen. into
which the horses are driven, beth men and
animals being fairly wild with excitement
The arrangements are most primitive and
are fraught with certain amount of dan
ger, causing as they do species of me ee
when the signal to start is given and the
restraining rope withdrawn. A starte.-
dressed in quaint medieval dress of
black and white, the COLO of the city o.
Siena, gives the signal with a white flag
and they are off-more or less. Three
times round forms the course during
which the excitement is intense even de-
lirious. In August last very close con-
test between the contrade del Nicehio'
(the SheID. del Aquila'' (the Eagle), and
"del Tartuca" (the Tortoise) ended
strangely enough, considering the name
in fine victory for the latter
The successful fantino, or jockey, is at
once surrounded by his friends. who kiss
and hug him in the exuberance of their de-
light. But he has also to be protected by
a body of five or six -Carabinieri lest he
should come to harm at the hands of his
disappointed rivals. Then comes the short
service of thanksgiving, and the successful
fantino afterward holds a species of re.
ception of his enthusiastic and admiring
friends at the chapel of his contrada. Next
day the victorious contrada parades the
town with drums and banners. collecting
subscriptions for feast to be held by it
a month later.