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Description
This piazza is the heart of Siena. This site revolutionized the idea of the medieval Italian piazza, having no spatial restrictions or conventional shape nor any symbolic balance of secular and religious power.
Conceived on a fragile and muddy piece of land, where the narrow streets of the old city converge, the piazza was a major urban planning problem for Siena.
The site was completely reclaimed during the Roman era, remaining, however, a suburban centre. The initial nucleus of the city was higher, in the Castelvecchio area. The future Campo was just a space for markets, off the main connecting roads that passed through the city. The first document mentioning the layout of the Campo was written in 1169 and refers to the entire valley including the current piazza and the Piazza del Mercato – today is behind the Palazzo Comunale. At that time, the Sienese council bought the land stretching from the current Logge della Mercanzia to the current Piazza del Mercato - Market Place.
The first mention of a subdivision between the two piazzas was in 1193. From this we can deduce that a dividing wall had been built. On one side this gave the Campo its unique conch shell shape, on the other side the Mercato. Within the wall, small factories and workshops started springing up.
Until 1270, the site of the piazza was used for fairs and markets. The end of the aristocratic despotism of the Rule of the Twenty-four - il Ventiquattro – allowed the development of a space independent of both ecclesiastic and aristocratic power.
This finally became the grand civic project ending with the construction of the Palazzo Pubblico and, consequently, the urban nucleus of the Campo. The Nove slowly got the project off the ground. The Palazzo was completed at the beginning of the fourteenth century and the Nove took up residence there in 1310. From then, the Piazza was progressively embellished and improved.
The surfacing of the piazza began in 1327 and finished in 1349. Even today, the centre is unchanged, subdivided into nine segments in commemoration of the Nove. The Campo, is a square shaped like a conch shell, surrounded by grand medieval buildings. Centuries later, these buildings have been deprived of some details, but their overall design remains. Indeed, apart from minor alterations to the buildings, the piazza as a whole has remained as it is for almost seven centuries. A project to crown the Piazza di Logge, designed by Baldassare Peruzzi, was shelved in the sixteenth century.
The Piazza del Campo is also a theatre for one of the most time-honoured, sporting events, not just in Italy, but the world: Il Palio. The Palio is a competition that looks like an equestrian merry-go-round and its origins are medieval. The race - traditionally called the carriera - is held twice a year. On July the second they race the Palio di Provenzano - in honour of the venerated Madonna di Provenzano and the Visitation of the Virgin Mary - and on August the sixteenth the Palio dell'Assunta - in honour of the Madonna Assunta.
On exceptional occasions such as the first landing on the Moon by the Apollo 11 mission or on Sienese or national celebrations such as the centenary of the Unification of Italy, the Sienese may hold a special or straordinario Palio, between May and September. The last such was in 2000, to celebrate the new millennium.
According to certain sources, the Palio has origins as a memorial of the Battle of Montaperti (1260) and the narrow Sienese escape. However, the first accounts of the race are from 1333, and noting the layout of the Piazza del Campo, the race could only have started when its location was given its final and appropriate shape. It is said that for centuries the Palio and other horse races took place in a disorganised manner - of which only traces in certain documents survive.
The two main dates were fixed only relatively recently. The first, based on an old buffalo carriera organised by the Istrice, became the date of the Palio in 1656, when, for public safety, there was a ban on fireworks in the piazza to celebrate the Visitation. The second date became official in 1774, though the race had been held sporadically on that day since the first race organised by the Istrice in 1689. Both Palio races are now organised and managed by the Comune di Siena.
The Palio takes its name from the prize: Palio, from the Latin pallium – a mantel or cloak - was also a type of banner made from a very fine, normally silk, fabric and was used for different purposes. In Siena, it was destined for the church of the winning rioneor contrada. It could be used to decorate the church or similar places. A fifteenth century pallium, decorated the altar of the Church of San Giuseppe, until recently.From this came the church's popular name of Contrada Capitana dell'Onda – The Capitan of the Waves Contrada. The Palio is a democratic competition, involving people from all the different contrade, giving it the kind of popularity aristocratic competitions could never afford.
Other than the already mentioned Istrice and Onda contrade, there are the Bruco, Nicchio, Leocorno, Lupa, Pantera, Selva, Tartuca, Torre, Valdimonte, Aquila, Oca, Chiocciola, Giraffa, Civetta and Drago. A total of seventeen contrade which representing every part of the city with their own supporters contradaioli.
Conceived on a fragile and muddy piece of land, where the narrow streets of the old city converge, the piazza was a major urban planning problem for Siena.
The site was completely reclaimed during the Roman era, remaining, however, a suburban centre. The initial nucleus of the city was higher, in the Castelvecchio area. The future Campo was just a space for markets, off the main connecting roads that passed through the city. The first document mentioning the layout of the Campo was written in 1169 and refers to the entire valley including the current piazza and the Piazza del Mercato – today is behind the Palazzo Comunale. At that time, the Sienese council bought the land stretching from the current Logge della Mercanzia to the current Piazza del Mercato - Market Place.
The first mention of a subdivision between the two piazzas was in 1193. From this we can deduce that a dividing wall had been built. On one side this gave the Campo its unique conch shell shape, on the other side the Mercato. Within the wall, small factories and workshops started springing up.
Until 1270, the site of the piazza was used for fairs and markets. The end of the aristocratic despotism of the Rule of the Twenty-four - il Ventiquattro – allowed the development of a space independent of both ecclesiastic and aristocratic power.
This finally became the grand civic project ending with the construction of the Palazzo Pubblico and, consequently, the urban nucleus of the Campo. The Nove slowly got the project off the ground. The Palazzo was completed at the beginning of the fourteenth century and the Nove took up residence there in 1310. From then, the Piazza was progressively embellished and improved.
The surfacing of the piazza began in 1327 and finished in 1349. Even today, the centre is unchanged, subdivided into nine segments in commemoration of the Nove. The Campo, is a square shaped like a conch shell, surrounded by grand medieval buildings. Centuries later, these buildings have been deprived of some details, but their overall design remains. Indeed, apart from minor alterations to the buildings, the piazza as a whole has remained as it is for almost seven centuries. A project to crown the Piazza di Logge, designed by Baldassare Peruzzi, was shelved in the sixteenth century.
The Piazza del Campo is also a theatre for one of the most time-honoured, sporting events, not just in Italy, but the world: Il Palio. The Palio is a competition that looks like an equestrian merry-go-round and its origins are medieval. The race - traditionally called the carriera - is held twice a year. On July the second they race the Palio di Provenzano - in honour of the venerated Madonna di Provenzano and the Visitation of the Virgin Mary - and on August the sixteenth the Palio dell'Assunta - in honour of the Madonna Assunta.
On exceptional occasions such as the first landing on the Moon by the Apollo 11 mission or on Sienese or national celebrations such as the centenary of the Unification of Italy, the Sienese may hold a special or straordinario Palio, between May and September. The last such was in 2000, to celebrate the new millennium.
According to certain sources, the Palio has origins as a memorial of the Battle of Montaperti (1260) and the narrow Sienese escape. However, the first accounts of the race are from 1333, and noting the layout of the Piazza del Campo, the race could only have started when its location was given its final and appropriate shape. It is said that for centuries the Palio and other horse races took place in a disorganised manner - of which only traces in certain documents survive.
The two main dates were fixed only relatively recently. The first, based on an old buffalo carriera organised by the Istrice, became the date of the Palio in 1656, when, for public safety, there was a ban on fireworks in the piazza to celebrate the Visitation. The second date became official in 1774, though the race had been held sporadically on that day since the first race organised by the Istrice in 1689. Both Palio races are now organised and managed by the Comune di Siena.
The Palio takes its name from the prize: Palio, from the Latin pallium – a mantel or cloak - was also a type of banner made from a very fine, normally silk, fabric and was used for different purposes. In Siena, it was destined for the church of the winning rioneor contrada. It could be used to decorate the church or similar places. A fifteenth century pallium, decorated the altar of the Church of San Giuseppe, until recently.From this came the church's popular name of Contrada Capitana dell'Onda – The Capitan of the Waves Contrada. The Palio is a democratic competition, involving people from all the different contrade, giving it the kind of popularity aristocratic competitions could never afford.
Other than the already mentioned Istrice and Onda contrade, there are the Bruco, Nicchio, Leocorno, Lupa, Pantera, Selva, Tartuca, Torre, Valdimonte, Aquila, Oca, Chiocciola, Giraffa, Civetta and Drago. A total of seventeen contrade which representing every part of the city with their own supporters contradaioli.