Info Contrade

History

This Contrada received the title "Imperiale" (Imperial) for having won the Palio dedicated to the reinstatement of the Empire (2^nd July 1936). In 1940 it was given the "Reali Patenti" (Royal Patents) in remembrance of the above-mentioned sovereign concession which modified their emblem as follows: "We declare that the Contrada of the Giraffa of Siena, has the right to use the emblem described in the statement here enclosed, as follows: Red with a descending eagle surmounting two medallions, one above the other. The top medallion is to be surrounded by an oak wreath and the other by a laurel wreath, both worked in gold, one is to be decorated with an imperial crown, the other with fasces hearing the following inscription in black: A - XIV - Imp. I. The shield is to be pointed in shape. We declare furthermore that such measures be noted in the "Libro Araldico degli Enti Morali".

On July 2^nd 1969, on the occasion of the festival of the "Visitation of the Madonna" the Contrada of the Giraffa was solemnly decreed an "Ente Morale of Canon Law" by the Archbishop of Siena, Mario Jsmaele Castellano in the Collegiate Church of Provenzano.
Its Seat is in via delle Vergini and its Patron Saint is the Madonna under the title of "Visitazione" (Visitation).

In its Church (Oratory of the Congregazione del Suffragio) there is a fresco by the Sienese School of the XV^th Century and a wooden crucifix believed to by Jacopo della Quercia (1372-1438). Before establishing their present seat under the vaults of the Collegiate Church of Provenzano, the men of the Contrada met in the Oratory of San Bernardino and later in the portico at the bottom of via Baroncelli which was built for this purpose. From here they moved to the Oratory of Sant'Anna della Congregazione dei Ciechi and they also met in the Churches of San Biagio, San Gherardo and San Pietro a Ovile.

The soldiers of San Pietro a Ovile distinguished themselves in a Contrada war by victoriously storming the Castle of Torniella, the owners of which had rebelled after previously submitting to the Republic in 1255. The feudal counts of Torniella were imprisoned in a tower in Siena on the site where the bell tower of the Church of San Pietro a Ovile now stands.