Talk:Contrade of Siena

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Here's an Italian website with info on the Contrade and Palio horse race; only the race section is in English so I can't ascertain the authority of the source.

-http://www.ilpalio.org/palioenglish.htm

Thanks, 216.99.199.195 07:53, 15 August 2007 (UTC)Erica Ritter (visited Sienna recently, was curious)

[edit] Yellow Contrade

We were in Siena last Sunday, 16 September 2007, and saw an enormous amount of men dressed in yellow marching the streets of Siena throwing flags up, beating drums etc. There were also tons of cute little kids dressed up in yellow cloaks as well- many of whom had fallen asleep ion prams by the end of it. It was fascinating, like stepping back into the medieval ages. I am surmising from this article that these were the Aquila contrade? But the article gives the date of the 8 September for that contrade. Can anybody confirm who these marchers on Sunday were that brought the entire area out? What was its purpose? I have tons of photos of the night so I'll be able to add them later when I know who they actually were! 86.42.92.197 17:37, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Historical questions

What constitutes a 'victory'; what tasks/competitions etc are played/engaged in? Are these contrade the same as guilds, or do/did they operate alongside them? Was/Is there any sectarian/ethnic/political affiliation connected to the modern contrade in Siena? Are women allowed in as full members? Is the role of the contrade today simply as pagentry or do they have some Freemason type aspect today? Are these contrade secret societies like the Orange Order in Ireland? Is membership publicly known, and is it advantageous to one's career etc? How often do they meet? How many members do they have? 86.42.92.197 17:37, 21 September 2007 (UTC)