The Palio is a horse race ran annually on July 2 and August 16 in the city of Siena, Italy. It is comprised of ten jockeys on bareback horses, each of which races for one of the city’s seventeen Contrade (districts). Three laps are taken around the thick dirt track laid along the edges of the Piazza del Campo, Siena’s principal public space. Dominating the Campo is the Torre del Mangia, whose looming presence is little noticed in the tense few minutes that the Palio takes place.