Mapping SIENA

You'll be hearing a lot of singing this summer from the neighborhood of the dragon (contrada del drago), which won the July Palio 2014. It was a clear victory with the horse Oppio guided by jockey Salasso dominating the race after overtaking the leading Aquila and runner up Pantera and Selva early on. Contrada del drago will celebrate 37 dinners this summer, one each for every victory (the first verified one dating back to 1650).   10 out of Siena's 17 contrade still have a chance to win a title this year. Set to participate on the 16th of August 2014 are: Drago (dragon), Giraffa (giraffe), Pantera (pantheress), Civetta (owl), Valdimontone (ram), Leocorno (unicorn), Aquila (eagle), Bruco (caterpillar), Chiocciola (snail) and Selva (forest).  In 2014 four contrade won't have participated in neither of the two Palio: Nicchio (Shell), Torre (tower) and Oca (goose) haven't been drawn whilst Istrice (porcupine) would have had the right to participate in the Augus...

The 10 contrade (neighborhoods) which are participating in Siena's Palio horse race on the second of July 2014 are:  Giraffa (giraffe) Chicciola (snail) Drago (dragon)  Tartuca (turtle) Selva (forest) Bruco (caterpillar) Aquila (eagle) Lupa (she-wolf) Pantera (pantheress) Onda (wave) Siena has a total of 17 neighborhoods out of which 10 can run in each Palio.  The seven contrade which couldn't participate in the July Palio in 2013 were already designated to run the July race in 2014. To make up the number ten three more contrade have been drawn a couple of weeks ago from the ones which had participated in the July race in 2013.  Two Palio are run each year, the Palio di Provenzano on July 2 and the Palio dell'Assunta on August 16.  For more info about Siena's neighborhoods, the history behind the Palio and the timing of its trial races on piazza del Campo read What is the Palio di Siena .

Together with another five Italian cities Siena has made it into the final round of ECoC 2019 , a competition which will bring forth the Italian city entitled to be one of the two European Capitals of Culture in 2019 (the other one is being elected in Bulgaria).  Siena's bid book has been Italy's best kept secret during the initial stage of the competition (read  here  why), but at last the   salient points of the dossier have been presented to the city's population this January (more public events are in planning for the 19th of each month to come).  Waiting for #Siena2019 From what I have gathered so far, the dossier of Siena 2019 focuses on ten projects which intend to feature Siena and Tuscany's rich cultural heritage not as a showcase of the past, but as a  fertile ground for inspiring art projects, innovative entrepreneurism  and forward thinking  social politics in the 21st century.   Cultural Emergency Room is the ...

Nina Burleigh is an American journalist (The New  York Observer, Time and The New  York Times among others) and au thor of five books. She has traveled widely and lived with her family in Perugia for a year whilst working on  The Fatal Gift of Beauty ,   a book about the trial of  Amanda Knox .  Considering Nina's accomplished curriculum the last thing I'd expected from our  meeting in Siena was  for her to arrive on top of a b icycle. Tourists walk and l ocals ride  - if anything - a Vespa through the up and downs of Tuscany's hill t owns. But hopefully, Nina Burleigh's three autumn  weeks spent  whizzing t hrough Siena on a b ike  will have changed this forever. What brought you to Siena? And was it just wine or food or were you working too? The Siena Art Institute and American artist Amy Yoes, who was curating a project involving expeditions with Mark Dion, and creating a major art installation at the Museum ...

The twelve must-knows for people wanting to impress fellow travelers with their thorough knowledge of the Palio di Siena, the world’s oldest continually hold sporting event.  1. WHAT IS THE PALIO? Italy's most famous horse race takes place twice a year o n piazza del Campo, Siena’s shell shaped medieval square. 2. WHEN IS THE PALIO?  Each year on the  2nd of July and the 16th of August . The July race called  Palio della Madonna di Provenzano  starts at 7.30 pm, the  Palio dell'Assunta  in August at 7 pm. However, both races are proceeded by a pageantry procession, so prepare to access piazza del Campo three to four hours before the start of the race. The festival lasts for a total of four days each time, which are made up of trial races and neighborhood dinners. Piazza del Campo and Palazzo Pubblico during Palio  3. WHO CAN PARTICIPATE? Siena has 17 neighborhoods ( contrade  in Ialian), but only ten of them can ...

Two short documentaries in English make for good introductions to the Palio, if you'd rather watch then read your way into Siena's fascinating horse race. A video on Guardian Travel gives a first idea of the dynamics behind Siena's longstanding and world famous event. The short film concentrates on the strong connection of Siena's population to their respective contrada (neighborhood) and the intense emotions the contradaioli (the people from a specific neighborhood) live through during the four days around the July and August palios.   The Guardian video also features a short interview with Luigi Bruschelli (called Trecciolino), who is one of the most successful jockeys of all times (he has won 13 Palios so far and is still going strong).   Click through to the Guardian Travel website  to watch the film.  Another introductory video to the Palio has been made by American Kenny Mayne of Wider World of Sports . It provides sound insight into the historic...

Every year the European Union designates at least two cities from different member countries to become European Capitals of Culture for a period of 12 months. Italy’s turn is up again in 2019 (together with Bulgaria), and Siena has joined the race as one of the candidate cities, which are competing to represent the country and the whole of Europe. Recently the website of SIENA 2019  has been launched in English, which gave me the opportunity to meet project director Pier Luigi Sacco to find out more about the reasons behind Siena’s candidature. Originally from Pescara the head of  # SIENA2019 is professor of Cultural Economics at IULM university in Milan and of Creative Industries at the university of Lugano in Switzerland. No doubt a busy man, Pier Luigi Sacco nevertheless took proper time to thoroughly answer my questions. The interview took place at the headquarters of  # SIENA2019, which are based in the fascinating underground maze of the Santa Maria d...

From time to time I'm asked by people who have very limited time in Italy, which one winery is an absolute must see in Tuscany.  My answer is simple: n one.  You've got no more than an hour in Siena? Spend it with an aperitif on Piazza del Campo. Your husband can't handle more than one museum in Florence? It will have to be the Uffizi then. But asking a similar question in regard to Tuscan wine just doesn't work. Luckily, I'd say.  Looking for the one and only may have made sense when travelling Tuscany in the 60s or 70s, at a time when a handful of vineyards towered above all the others. However, in the last 50 years the region has undergone massive transformation in regard to wine making. Thousands of new wineries have opened up and the production philosophy of most of the old ones has moved from quantity to quality.