The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation’s most visited tourist destination, especially during Palio di Siena. The best known place is Piazza del Campo.

Siena, together with the cities of Pisa and Florence, creates triangle of the most visited cities in Tuscany. There are lots of travel agencies that organise trips for tourists to those three cities. The best option how to get there is probably via plane to airport Galileo Galilei in Pisa.

What to see in Siena

• The Piazza del Campo, piazza at the centre of the city, where Palio di Siena takes place twice a year
• The Palazzo Pubblico, Siena’s City Hall with Torre di Mangia tower, from whose top you can see a beautiful panorama of the countryside of Siena.
• The Duomo, Siena’s magnificent black and white Italian Romanesque cathedral including the Libreria Piccolomini, Baptistery, and an attached Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.
• The Pinacoteca, full of Sienese painting from the city’s Medieval heyday.
• The Palazzo Salimbeni, built in 1472, is the world headquarters of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the major banking corporation which has a hand in much of the economic and cultural life of the city.
• The house where St. Catherine of Siena was born is just a few blocks from the duomo. This 14th century mystic is one of the principal patron saints of Italy.

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Twenty days prior to the July 2nd race, a total of 10 contestants will be draw to compete in the first event of the year. The remaining 7 contestants will participate in the second event on August 16th; along with the top three contestants from the July race. Three days before each race, the contestants are assigned the horse that they will be running in the race.

The Palio di Siena is considered to be one of the most famous and historic of festivals in the whole of Italy which takes place every year in the Piazza del Campo square; a fan shaped earthen race track. The actual festivities of the event start on June 29th and will continue on until August 13th of each year.

Horse race, Palio di Siena, Tuscany, Italy by Janus Kinase

On race day, there is a special mass held in Siena where the contestants and their horses are blessed before the start of the competition. Trial runs are held until around 3 in the afternoon; after which a procession makes its way throughout the historic town center of Siena. The procession ends at the Piazza del Campo just in time for the 4:30 official start time of the Palio di Siena competition.

The race is composed of three laps around the Piazza del Campo which is roughly 1,000 meters in all. The winner wins a victory flag for their neighborhood known as the palio. It is a huge honor to win the Palio di Siena.

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