The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1906-11-18
By Barry H. Cert

en- from Rome by Romulus, fed
INTO Tuscany and founded the city,
shenccforth to be called "siena," At any
gate. siena las from time immemoriai
carried tho same arms as Rome: the
Ehe wolf and the twins.
The origin or the Patio is almost as
obscure as that Of the city itself Ger
tain ii is that tho Roman sports -four
ished in Siena, that here as well as in
Rome the barharic puslistic contests
and gladiatoriaI spectacles gave way to
the more refined bull fights and
these in turn were superseded some
centuries ago by the horse race called
the patio"
The "palio" is properly the banner
offered as prize. but the race itself
has come TO be known by this name.
II the race had interested only GER
tain individuals it probably would have
dies out hundreds OF years ago. But it
ha- been enthusiastically continued be-
cause it interests vitality and person
ally every inhabitant Of the city and
the surrounding country Siena is d.
Fided into sevepteen "contrade'' (wards).
The "contrade' are also relic of the
mi5dle ages and their origin is I'M
known. Probably. however, their in
stitution was for military purposes.
They exist now solely because they
form convenient divisions of the city
into competitors for the .palio" Each
"contrada" has its chapel and its ward
home IN the ward home are displayed
the various trophies gained during the
races Of the last few centuries It is
the storehouse Of the pride Of the com
munity and there is no one in the
whole ~contrada" who does not feel
that he IS part owner of the ward
I chapel and the ward home Tt is the
, personal pride Of each man. woman and
child in the glory of his "contrada"
which has made the patio" so aston
ishingly popular. A person is a mem
Der Of the ~contrada" in which he is
born II woman marries out of her
"eontrada." on the day of the patio"
she and her husband separate and the
wife returns to the "contrada" whose
colors she has worn ever since her
birth.
The race course is in she Piazza Wit
torio Emanuele. in he very center Of
the town. The piazza is in the form of
2 shell. having its base at the PaIazzo
Comunale. the Town Hall, marvellous
brick structure built about 1900
Around the piazza stand some of the
most splendid monuments to Siena's
architectural glory. some of them with
their facades slightly curved to follow
the circular form Of the piazza The
piazza is paved with large bricks. and
a horse race around it seems ridiculous.
one wonders how any horse or jockey
could come out alive But the track
IS covered with earth a few inches
thick. Even after this is done it is
difficult TO ~~e how horse can avoid
breaking its neck. The turns are more
or less abrupt. particularly the one at
the via San MARITIME. Here the inside
and outside Of the track are heavily
padded with mattresses. At three
points on the course are stationed tenn
porary hospitals. so that If a jockey
does not break his neck in his fall he
can be quickly taken care of. AS for
the horses-a horse with broken leg
has to be shot in Italy as well as in
California.
There are two races seach year, one
on the Cd of July the other on the 10th
Of August The former is in honor of
Nostra Donna di Provenzano and is not
nearly so important as the latter. which
falls during the festival Of the Assump-
ton. To see this second "palio." poo
pie come from all over the world and
the population of Sienna on this day
is almost doubled
All the "contrade" compete each year.
but since not more than ten horses
can circle the piazza with even moder-
ate safety. seven "contrade" are not
represented in each Of the races. All
OF course prefer to take part in the
August patio" but this matter is set
tied by lot Three members of the
City Council conduct the drawings and
are responsible for the success of the
entire festival.
Two days before the race the horses
arc tried out Every horse owner in
the country is entitled to enter the
competition Not every horse can run
a good race around this unusual track
and the race is not always to tho
swiftest The judges choose the ter
horses which seem best adapted to tn,
track. These ten horses are. then dis,
tributed by lot amongthe ten competing
"contrade." The official groom of tn,
"ccntrada" leads the horse off TO tn,
'contrada" barn. From this momen
the "contrada@ is responsible for it
horse
IT may seem strange that the con
trade are not free to choose their owl
horses But it must be remembers.
that some 'contrade@ are very wealth,
while others include the poorer sec
tons Of the city. The drawings are re
sorted to in order to give an ever
chance TO all competitors
Before the race there are severa
more tryouts. this time not for tn
horses but for the jockeys. This mat
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