It seemed like it took my friend Sordello and me forever to get to Siena, but we arrived late Monday afternoon, after a long flight and series of trains. I’m here to sit in on a Dante seminar Tuesday ...

THE Palio, a breakneck horse race round the Piazza of Siena, has taken place twice a year for some seven centuries. It is no Turf Classic; the race itself is merely part of a general festival; the ...

Thousands of spectators gather in the Tuscan town of Siena for a bareback horse race through the main square. Twice a year, almost without fail since the mid-1600s, the Palio di Siena has been held in ...

It’s perhaps Italy’s most famous annual sporting event. But Siena’s Palio is as much about pageantry, civic identity and Sienese pride as it is about a bareback horse race that lasts, on average, just ...

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails When Hunter S Thompson took Welsh artist Ralph Steadman ...

'Amy' producer James Gay-Rees also worked on this documentary about the 800-year-old Siena, Italy, competition, which takes place on Sunday. By Hilary Lewis Deputy Editor, East Coast A new trailer for ...

Italians are up in arms after the Tourism Minister suggested Siena's legendary horse race, the Palio, should be banned because it's cruel. In this postcard Nancy Greenleese looks at Italian attitudes ...