The Oldest Horse Race in Italy: Il Palio in Siena, Italy

I absolutely love Italy and have spent a lot of time visiting small towns and attending unique events. Siena, an ancient and walled city in Italy, is a great place to visit for the day or for a few nights as you travel and tour the little towns of Tuscany. As the summer progresses, a special and unique horse race is poised to take place on July 2, 2022 and again on August 16, 2022. In fact, every year since 1701, Il Palio is run annually around the Piazza del Campo, the main square in the center of town and is Italy’s oldest horse race. This is a race between all 17 districts (contrade) in Siena. There are 17 contrade in Siena and each contrada has a horse that runs in the race. For days up until the race, parties start and a lottery is held to pick 10 contrade who will run bareback 3 times around the piazza. Each contrada, or team, has a lot of history, its own flag and each is generally associated with a family.