Contrada

As I mentioned when we first arrived to Siena, they have this different areas in town called Contrada. There are 17 in Siena, each one has an animal or elemental represntation, a chapel, a flag, a headquarters/social area, and 10 of the 17 compete in the Palio each year. The Contrada were originally created based on profession, but that is no longer the case, now it is based on which contrada you are born into. The Palio is a horse race that takes place every August in the Piazza Il Campo and is extremely important to Siena culture. The contrada take it very seriously. There are so many interesting rules to both the palio and the contrada.

We had the amazing opportunity to take a tour of Bruco contrada headquarters, usually these spaces are exclusively for members of the contrada so it was truly an honor. Through the headquarters was a lovely outdoor space used for contrada dinners, which they have up to three times a week! We learned so much about the contrada customs and the roles that each generation plays. They had basically a museum of their contrada history in their headquarters.

The contradas give members a sense of belonging and provides people with a welcoming place to spend time and participate in fun activities. This is especially important for teenagers and young adults, it gives them opportunities to not get involved in harmful behaviors such as drugs, alcohol and crime. Creating a sense of community is so important and has so many benefits not only for the members of that community but others as well. Sometimes I feel that a true sense of belonging is lacking in a lot of places in the US, so it was really nice to see how successfully the contrada community structure has been maintained all these hundreds of years.