If today were a normal day, Niccolò would be closing up his restaurant – as he does every evening – and perhaps enjoying a grappa with the last few remaining guests. But today is no normal day in Siena. There are only four days left until the Palio, a hugely popular horserace where the prize is glory for one’s own neighbourhood, or contrade, and the opportunity to embarrass the competitors from the other neighbourhoods as much as possible. Consequently, Niccolò will sleep in the stall from tonight in order to prevent the horse chosen to bear the contrade’s eagle crest from being nobbled before the race even starts. All of this has happened before with the Palio; indeed this is the race where jockeys hit each other with their whips rather than using them to egg on their own mounts. On race day tens of thousands of people throng into the old city quarter of Siena and as the horses race across the mediaeval pavement of the Piazza del Campo, it is clear that this is primarily about honour and the victory they have dreamt about all year. The historic Palio horserace is run twice a year in the Piazza di Campo in Siena.
A Horse Race Like No Other – The Palio Of Siena
People / Society
- Title: A Horse Race Like No Other – The Palio Of Siena
- Original title: Ein Pferderennen wie das Leben – Der Palio von Siena
- Film by: Sabine Coen, Alessandro Sabini
- Format: 30', one-off
- Long running series: Human Encounters
- Production: WDR
- Year of production: 2006
- Language / subtitle version: German
