The Palio is a 90 second horse race in Siena, Italy that takes place twice a year in the heart of the city at Piazza del Campo. It is a race for honor and prestige for the winer representing one of the 17 Contrade (districts) within the city. Of the 17 Contrade, only 10 are randomly chosen to participate in the race. They then go on to get randomly assigned a horse, and then must find a jockey to represent them. There are very few rules to the Palio, its sort of a “anything goes” and rivalry between the different Contrade is fierce.
Even if you go to Siena outside of the Palio, it and the Contrade are ever present. That makes a Contrade banner a perfect souvenir of Siena. The one I picked out is from the Pantera (Panther) Contrade.
Here are examples of the other banners:
Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.
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