The Palio di Siena is a horse race that is held twice each year, on 2 July
and 16 August, in Siena, Italy. Ten horses and riders, bareback and
dressed in the appropriate colours, represent ten of the seventeen
contrade, or city wards.
The race itself, in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza
del Campo, on which a thick layer of earth has been laid. The race is run
for three laps of the piazza and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds. It
is common for a few of the jockeys to be thrown off their horses while
making the treacherous turns in the piazza, and indeed, it is not unusual
to see riderless horses finishing the race.
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Coded by Lucrezia Franci