CONTRADA OF THE TOWER - FROM THE PAST

In 1526 Pope Clement VII’s army, entered the territory of Siena and laid siege to the city. However, the Sienese fought back:two formations of soldiers marched out of the besieged city and managed to achieve a crushing victory.
In memory of that battle , the Sienese government decreed that a church dedicated to St. James was to be erected on the Salicotto plain in the heart of the Contrada of the Tower, which was then known as the Lionfante. The banner of the Contrada was an elephant surmounted by a tower and nowadays it’s still the same.
In a Palio of 1585, the Contrada’s horse was led into Piazza del Campo by a group of Contrada members who clustered tightly around a dishevelled woman with torn clothes. That woman represented folly and the allegory meant that the members of the tower had managed to recapture her after she had attempted to flee Siena. By bringing folly back into the city, they made possible for the Sienese to continue to hold the Palio and organize the fine celebrations as always, for which a good dose of folly and fantasy were necessary.

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