The Palio scheduled for this evening at 7:30 p.m. has been postponed due to a storm that hit the city shortly after 3 p.m., which made the tuff track in the ring of Piazza del Campo impassable.
The postponement of the race dedicated to the Madonna di Provenzano was made official by the green flag displayed by the Municipality of Siena from the triple lancet windows of Palazzo Pubblico.
Both of last year’s Palios were also postponed due to bad weather.
The Palio di Siena, known locally simply as Il Palio, from the Latin word pallium, is a horse race held twice each year, on July 2 and August 16.
Ten bareback horses and (clothed) riders dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city wards, in a tradition dating back to the 17th-century.
The Palio held on July 2 is named Palio di Provenzano, in honour of the Madonna of Provenzano, a Marian devotion particular to Siena which developed around an icon from the Terzo Camollia area of the city.
The Palio held on August 16 is named Palio dell’Assunta, in honour of the Assumption of Mary.
ANSA
