The origin of this event is to be found as far back as the Middle Ages, around 1200, the Palio was the "peaceful" occasion to proudly show that it belonged to a certain district and resented others; all this mix of emotions and pride is still alive today.
In this period, in fact, Siena contended in Florence the supremacy of Tuscany and which, within it, was fragmented into seventeen districts, each with its own traditions and culture and managed as micro-states.