It has become necessary to join another great spectacle to my others, carefully collected during my life when I have been fortunate to see many fabulous things which I call my wonders of the world. It is not easy to be included in this list, which consisted of only 3 before: the Goroka Show in the highlands of Papua New Guinea; ‘J'Ouvais' at the opening of the carnival in Port of Spain, Trinidad ; the ‘crepissage’ of the Great Mosque of Djenne ( of course!) But these three have now had to admit one more in their glorious midst: The PALIO in Siena: the great bare back horse race around the Piazza del Campo.
And, come to think of it, even the city of Siena must join my own private pantheon of the most wonderful cities of the world, which now include Stockholm, New Orleans, Djenne, Lyon and Siena.
There are many similarities between Sienna and Djenne, surprisingly. For a start, Siena is the oldest city in Tuscany, settled by the Etruscans many centuries B.C., and Djenne is the oldest city not only in Mali but in West Africa , first settled over 250 BC.
In the first part of the 14th century Siena built their magnificent Duomo, while at the same time the Djennenke built the first version of their great Mosque. Both cities saw the pinnacle of their importance around the 14-16th centuries after which their power waned.
Another striking similarity is the importance and friendly competition between the neighbourhoods in the great yearly event of the two cities: in Djenne the eleven ‘kin's compete to win the prize at the crepissage, and in Siena the 17 ‘Contrade’ put up a fierce battle to win the Palio.
There is more: the beautiful slender horses used and bred specifically for the Palio are called ‘Barberi' from ‘Berber’ because the race originates in Africa, in this case North Africa, but these are undoubtedly from the same race as the fine limbed Malian horses, which are of the ancient race that made up Sundiatta' cavallery when he unified the tribes and founded the Malian empire in the 13th century.
When I see these horses I think of my lovely Maobi, Napoleon and Petit Bandit that I was fortunate enough to have owned and ridden across the dusty plains of the Macina by Djenne...
It is an unforgettable experience to witness the Contrade parading through the streets of Siena in their colourful costumes to the sound of the drums, performing intricate manoeuvres with the flags which are carrying the insignia of their Contrada.
Before they arrive in the Piazza del Campo they all file past the Duomo and wave to what I believe must be the cardinal, who waves back and makes the sign of the cross over them all.
Blessings are very much the order of the day and on the morning of the Palio the jockeys all receive a blessing in the Piazza del Campo before the horses are also blessed, by the altar inside the churches of each Contrada!
A great procession around the Piazza precedes the actual race, and finally, after four days of intense build-up the race finally explodes in a wild burst of just over a minute: this time the GIRAFFA Contrada beat the favourite Chiocciola Contrada(the centipede) by a few centimetres in a hair raising finale before the roaring crowd of many thousands.
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Then followed the traditional celebrations which have not yet come to an end...
first to the church of Santa Maria in Provenzano,
to thank the Virgin, carrying the coveted standard of the Palio, while the victorious horse Tale e Quale got a well deserved shower and feed, then the party continued all night and the next day...
Hello, Sophie! I am not in the blogosphere so much anymore, but am glad I happened on this new post of yours. Beyond the collection of events you describe, I enjoyed seeing the list of your favorite cities, with New Orleans among them. You certainly know how to get the very best out of life!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to hear from you Susan! Well, I am not blogging so much either, but overwhelmed by Siena... Baci to you both!
DeleteThe definition of 'city' has been troubling me, as I was writing about Treviso, which like Siena, feels like a town to me (though Siena is undoubtedly up there among the wonders of the world for its stunning central piazza, equal to Venice and Ascoli in Italy). Djenne's a town too, surely. Cities have multiple facets - those two are concentrated in their impact. Anyway, glad you've been seeing Siena at its most remarkable in the Palio. It seemed to me to be so organic a part of the place when I saw it back in the 1980s, however important it also is for tourism.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about the Palio is that it is absolutely for the people of Siena. The tourists are welcome but it is not for them,in the same way as the crepissage will go on whether there are tourists or not. I went to Florence last Sunday. It was absolutely heaving with tourists and they were putting on some fake show with people in medieval costumes prancing up and down. Couldn't stand it and MULTO FELICE to return to lovely Siena... And yes, there are differences between towns and cities.. in my list of great towns/cities of the world I did not include the very obvious ones like Paris, London and New York.Of course I love these too! And Siena is not just the Piazza del Campo! The whole place is assolutamente fantastico!
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Nevertheless the crepissage is not advertised in the same way. The decision to increase the yearly quota of palios was definitely a tourism thing. Which is not of course to deny either the wondrous authenticity of the spectacle nor the beauty of Siena.
ReplyDeleteI have been thinking about both you and David, and how grateful I am that, despite our very simple lives, in comparison, you have welcomed us in. After reading your conversation here, I found myself dreaming of cities and towns to visit and searching around I found two "old friends," now renewed: Stockholm and Siena. Meanwhile, here is how we spend our days in the Hudson Valley: a walk on the rail trail while the shade still covers the trail and it is cool, then a stop to get coffee, then feet up, reading (too often news, oy) over breakfast, then J painting and me making some sort of collage, then more reading, then an early evening swim (really a wade) with gin and tonics, then dinner and more reading or perhaps taking in a TV movie or series. That's our life. Not a bad one, at its best, but simple, to be sure.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of an early evening swim with gin and tonics, Susan!
ReplyDeleteAnd David, it seems that the two Palios a year- July and August, have been a feature since 1701!
And in 1729 a rule came into place about there being only ten horses in each race, probably because of too many accidents in previous years, and therefore the two Palio dates gives all the 'Contrade' a chance to run every year.So not really organized for the tourists in would seem...
Mea culpa. I do remember controversy in the 1990s when maybe there was a plan to increase it to even more.
ReplyDeleteSusan, we all need to make our lives simpler as we get older, while still being open to new things. Sophie is honourably excepted from the 'quieter life' plan, of course...
I should also add that Sophie inspired me with this blog thing in the first place, and then you (Sue) popped up and we've forged a friendship that is more than a blogging one. So the way of enriching our lives with people who think alike and yet are different goes on...
ReplyDeleteLove your responses! About to go for our wade with g&ts and will toast you both!
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