Travel: Il Palio Horse Race in Siena, Italy

Posted By: KK on 08/16/10 11:11 AM | Categories: Travel

W2WW’s friend is heading to Siena, Italy for the Palio di Siena or locally known as Il Palio, which is a horse race held twice each year on July 2 and August 16. The Palio consists of ten horses and riders who ride bareback and are dressed in the appropriate colors that represent ten of the seventeen Contrade or city wards of Siena. The race itself circles the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid, three times and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds. View the race on youtube.

As the race can be an all day-to-night affair, we recommended a simple dress to beat the day’s heat such as this Adam white cotton shift paired with flat espridrille sandals by day and a purse big enough to hold some higher sandals like this red Chloe Heloise for the evening – going from contrade-to-contrade to take part in the festivities. This outfit would be equally at home on the streets of any Italian city from Florence to Venice to Rome!