Piazza del Campo is the principal public space in Siena, it was a marketplace as early as the thirteenth century. The square is divided into 9 sections, each representing one of the ruling governor. Artistically, the sections are said to resemble the folds in the Virgin Mary’s cloak, the patron saint of Siena. Each summer, the Palio, a horse race with complex rules that pits 10 of the 17 “contrade” (areas into which the city is divided) takes place on the piazza.