You may have heard of this most famous of horse races, but I feel it my duty to let you know that it is so much more than just 90 seconds of running around a track (but what a track - it’s the Piazza del Campo!). In Siena they say, “Il Palio si corre tutto l’anno” (“the Palio is run year round”) and “Palio è vita” (“Palio is life”). Learn how the 17 Contrade (districts) are woven into the very fabric of this city, and how medieval institutions are integrated into 21st-century life.
