Festa della Madonna Bruna celebration

Festa della Madonna Bruna is celebrated July 2 in the city of Matera, an interesting town with cave dwellings, sassi, in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. A huge float of the Madonna Bruna is paraded through town. Finally the statue is attacked, torn apart, and burned accompanied by a spectacular fireworks display over the … Read more

How to See the Siena Palio

The palio races are very crowded – you might be able to snag a standing place (there’s standing room for about 28,000), but reserved seats (33,000) are usually sold out in advance. You can watch the flag twirling from several places in town; one of the best but most crowded places is by the Duomo. … Read more

Palio Race About

Race day starts with a special mass, trial runs by the jockeys, and blessing of the horses. In the afternoon starting around 3pm there’s a procession through the historic center of Siena with costumed participants from each contrada and performances by flag throwers. The historic parade ends at Piazza del Campo. Before the race the … Read more