page_title: Contrade of Siena
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Contrade of Siena / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Members of the Sienese contrada Onda parading in ceremonial garb. Українська: Парад учасників Кортео Сторіко перед Сієнським Паліо
context_page_description: A contrada is a district, or a ward, within an Italian city. The most well-known contrade are probably the 17 contrade of Siena, whose representatives race on horseback in the Palio di Siena, run twice every year in July and August. Each is named after an animal or symbol, with a long history and complicated heraldic and semi-mythological associations.
context_section_description: The contrade districts were set up in the Middle Ages in order to supply troops to the many military companies that were hired to defend Siena as it fought to preserve its independence from Florence and other nearby city states. With the passage of time, however, the contrade have lost their administrative and military functions and have become areas of localised patriotism. The communities are held together by their histories, and the emotions and sense of civic pride of the residents. Their roles have broadened so that in the 21st century, every important event – baptisms, deaths, marriages, church holidays, victories at the Palio, even wine or food festivals – is celebrated only within one's own contrada.
  Every contrada has its own museum, church, fountain and baptismal font, motto, allied contrada (only Oca and Lupa have no allies) and adversary contrada, typically a neighbor (only four, Bruco, Drago, Giraffa and Selva, have no declared adversaries).
caption: In the summer, as excitement for the Palio builds, it is customary for members of the various contrade to dress in ceremonial garb and parade through the city in the Corteo Storico.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A510", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2008:06:21 16:38:09", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2548", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8449", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:06:21 16:38:09", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:06:21 16:38:09", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "133/16", "EXIF ApertureValue": "159/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "149/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "299/16", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "2048", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1536", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1860", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "64000/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "64000/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape"}