Contrada Priora della Civetta

GENERAL INFORMATION

HEADQUARTERS: Via Cecco Angiolieri, 16 - Terzo di San Martino

SOCIETY: "Cecco Angiolieri" - Via Cecco Angiolieri

NAME OF THE CONTRADA MEMBERS: Civettini

MOTTO: "I see in the night"

COAT OF ARMS: silver, with a owl in majesty, perched on a fruitful olive branch, topped by an ancient gold crown, accompanied by two blue shields, charged with the letters U and M in gold (Umberto I and Margherita di Savoia). (Sovereign concession of February 9, 1889)

COLORS: red and black in equal parts striped or arabesqued with white

SYMBOLIZES: cunning

PLACES AND REFERENCES

CHURCH AND ORATORY: Church and Oratory of Saint Anthony of Padua - Via Tommaso Pendola

PATRON AND TITLE FESTIVAL: Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Bernardo Tolomei - June 13

MUSEUM: inside the Castellare degli Ugurgeri - Via Cecco Angiolieri, 41

FOUNTAIN: Inaugurated on September 25, 2005, along with the new headquarters of the Cecco Angiolieri Society, designed and created by Fabio Belleschi.

RELATIONS AND ORGANIZATION

RELATIONS WITH OTHER CONTRADE:
allies Aquila, Giraffa, Istrice, Pantera
enemies Leocorno

CORPORATIONS: shoemakers

MILITARY COMPANIES: San Vigilio, San Pietro alle Scale in Banchi, San Cristoforo

HISTORY OF THE CONTRADA PRIORA DELLA CIVETTA

The Contrada della Civetta was established by some men from the Military Companies of San Pietro in Banchi and San Vigilio. Only later did it absorb the people of the district of San Cristoforo, which in the 16th century had presented itself under the banner of a bear in some bull hunts.

The first victory in a real Palio dates back to July 2, 1664, a date that marks the official entry of the Civetta into the history of the Palio. In 1699, the Contrada was hosted by the parish priest Antonio Perpignani in the church of San Pietro in Banchi, a building that arose on the foundations of a temple dedicated to Jupiter and known as "San Pietro Buio" due to the poor lighting of the interior. That same year, the Civetta won the Palio on July 2, and the banner was donated to the church; the Perpignani family had an altar built specifically assigned to the Contrada.

In 1761, the Civetta was the first contrada to achieve a "capotto", meaning victory in both July and August in the same year. A second capotto came in 1778, a year in which, however, the Contrada had to leave the church of San Pietro in Banchi, sold to private individuals. Since then, it found hospitality in the church of San Cristoforo, then owned by the Tolomei.

At the end of the 19th century, the Civetta distinguished itself for a gesture of great institutional significance: it hosted the meetings of all the Priori of the contrade, called to defend the centuries-old Palio traditions, threatened by some decisions of the municipal authorities. From this episode derives the honorary title of "Contrada Priora".

PALII AND RESULTS

WON PALII: 39 for the Contrada | 33 for the Municipality

PARTICULARITIES

TITLE: it has the title of "Priora" for having hosted the first meeting of all the Priori of the 17 Contrade.