Palio of the Contrade of Artena

A grand 17th-century re-enactment in the heart of the Lepini Mountains

The Palio of the Contrade of Artena is one of the most popular historical events in Lazio and the entire area south of Rome. Each year, during the first ten days of August, the town of Artena (Metropolitan City of Rome Capital) brings the 17th century back to life, when the village was known as Montefortino and served as a fiefdom of the noble Borghese family. The re-enactment celebrates a true historical event: the visit of Pope Paul V, born Camillo Borghese, who arrived in Montefortino on October 11, 1615, while the fiefdom was governed by his nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese.

The ten districts in competition

The heart of the festival is the challenge between the ten districts into which the Artena territory is ideally divided: Centro Storico, Colubro, Macere, Maiotini, Selvatico, Torretta, Valli, Via Giulianello, Via Latina, and Via Velletri. For ten days, each district puts its pride and sense of belonging to the test, setting up its own food stall at Villa Borghese and preparing the participants for the historical pageant.

The Baroque Dinner and the historical pageant

The celebrations open with the theatrical Baroque Dinner in the square, presided over by a participant representing the Cardinal, who announces the arrival of the Pontiff. This is followed by the historical pageant, featuring over a thousand participants in period costumes: nobles, commoners, musicians, and flag-wavers, along with the papal court and the Swiss Guard, accompanied by mules, donkeys, horses, and oxen. The parade winds its way up from the lower part of the town to Piazza della Vittoria, creating one of the most evocative images of the Lazio summer.

The twenty-two folk games

Over the following evenings, the districts compete for the Palio — a banner painted each year by a local artist — through twenty-two folk games inspired by traditional rural life: from wheelbarrow racing to dialect singing, relay races, tug-of-war, hoop racing, jump rope, barrel racing, wheat threshing, log cutting, archery, the quintana joust, and the brigand's game. Traditionally, the donkey race concludes the event and determines the winning district.

Villa Borghese, the heart of the festival

The large Villa Borghese park, the green lung of Artena, hosts the competitions and the food and wine stalls managed by the districts, where visitors can taste dishes from the cuisine of Artena and the Lepini Mountains. Every evening, thousands of people flock to the area; recent editions have recorded up to one hundred thousand total visitors over the ten-day period.

An identity-defining event for Artena and Lazio

Established in the early 1990s, the Palio has become a powerful vehicle for collective memory and community identity. It is not just a show for visitors, but the most cherished festival of the year for the inhabitants of Artena, who work on it for months. For those arriving from outside, it is the ideal opportunity to discover an authentic village in the province of Rome, its history linked to the Borghese family, and a popular tradition that remains deeply rooted and alive.