Palio delle Contrade in Fucecchio

On Sunday May 20th takes place the Palio delle Contrade in Fucecchio, an ancient horse racing.


Palio delle Contrade dates back to 1200, as historical reenactment of a bloody battle that took place in Fucecchio. The last historic palio was held on June 14th in 1863 and then we come back to present times. Nowadays this horse race is an important festival, bringing back the city and its visitors to ancient times.

The 12 contrade fight each other in an insane horse race to win the palio, that is a piece of holy fabric decorated by an artist for the occasion. The palio is very similar to the more famous Palio di Siena.

The Palio delle Contrade is famous also for its magnificent costume parade, made of 1100 figures dressed up with stunning Renaissance dresses. All the rich dresses are hand made by local tailors and deserve to be seen.

The event starts at 9am with the costume parade walking trough the city and ending in Piazza Vittorio Veneto to receive the blessing. then at 3pm there is the draw of the Palio and at 4pm it starts. for more information and look at some pictures visit the official website of Palio delle Contrade.