People of the Palio: the protagonists of the scene
The Palio is one of the most ancient historical events in Italy. Many other towns have their own similar events that celebrate a common habit in Medieval ages.
But the Palio of Siena has been going on for ages since 1644, a long history of rivalry between the Contrada, which sometimes took to serious battles and even bloody events.
This is Palio: passion, faith, unconditioned membership and loyalty. Last week the Palio 2015 had its winner. This week we want to tell you about the different protagonist of the Palio, which are not only the jockey.
Captain
The representative of the Contrada that holds and organize every detail during the Palio and preparing, with his staff, the strategies of the race. The charge can also be covered by a woman.
Mangino
The one who on behalf of the Contrada, performs along with Captain negotiations (or parties) with the other Contrade on the eve of the Palio.
Mossiere
He has the difficult task of aligning the horses between the two ropes of the move to kick off the Palio race, once the running horse has entered.
Barbaresco
He assists the horse, elected to run the palio, check the health of the horse and care about the stable. Not to be confused with the jockey.
Correttore
He is the the spiritual head of the Contrada and bless the horse and the jockey on the day of the race.
Guardafantino
He checks the jockey. If you talk with an original Senese, you will probably hear many interesting histories about the jockeys. They do not belong to a Contrada, they are paid to run. That’s why they must be checked, one never know if they are running fairly, respecting the agreement with the Contrada.
Maestro di Palazzo
Kind of director who, during the parade of the Contrada, assisted by Rotellini di Palazzo, regulates the conduct of the historic walk.
Rotellini di Palazzo
Characters that appear in historical walk. They follow the orders of the Master of the Field to make the parade happen in a good order.
