
- The Palio is a bareback horse race run in July and August every year around Siena's central piazza.
- Siena is split into 17 contrade, which are essentially neighborhoods/family. Ten compete in each Palio for a chance at the ultimate bragging rights for the year. The seventeen contrade are the Eagle, the Snail, the Owl, the Dragon, the Giraffe, the Porcupine, the She-Wolf, the Seashell, the Goose, the Caterpillar, the Wave, the Panther, the Forest, the Tortoise, the Unicorn, the Tower, and the Ram.
- Elaborate parades and processions are an integral part of each Palio.
- A horse can win the race riderless.
- Siena is split geographically into three districts because it was built on three hills.
- The police officers' uniforms were designed by Giorgio Armani. (Would you expect anything less from Italy?)
- Saint Catherine is the patron saint of both Siena and the entire continent of Europe. Her head and thumb are in Siena; the rest of her is in Rome.