title: LA Terra in Piazza: An Interpretation of the Palio of Siena
author:  Alan Dundes 
description: A detailed study of the palio in Siena, the horse race that is run twice a year in the city.
zlib_text: ![](Images/image00200.jpeg)
  
  > _For Carin, who believed from the beginning,_  
  >  _and Alberto, who saw me to the end_
  
   ****
  
  > > > > _lascia ch’io torni al mio paese sepolto_
  
  > > > >  _nell’erba come in un mare caldo e pesante_.  
  >  
  >
  
  > > > > let me return to my home town entombed
  
  > > > > in grass as in a warm and high sea.
  
  > > > > — GIORGIO BASSANI, “Saluto a Roma”
  
  > I
  
   **1.**
  
  East of the Tolly Club, after Deshapran Sashmal Road splits in two, there is a
  small mosque. A turn leads to a quiet enclave. A warren of narrow lanes and
  modest middle-class homes.
  
  Once, within this enclave, there were two ponds, oblong, side by side. Behind
  them was a lowland spanning a few acres.
  
  After the monsoon the ponds would rise so that the embankment built between
  them could not be seen. The lowland also filled with rain, three or four feet
  deep, the water remaining for a portion of the year.
  
  The flooded plain was thick with water hyacinth. The floating weed grew
  aggressively. Its leaves 