Piazza di Siena 2024, for the international horse competition a 'green' journey between sport and beauty

Piazza di Siena is back, one of the leading sporting (and glamorous) events in the capital's busy agenda of major global events. Between art, restoration, commitment to biodiversity to the rhythm of the sporting feats of horses and athletes involved in the competition considered among the most beautiful in the world. The 91st edition of the official international horse competition of Rome - Master d'Inzeo is scheduled on the historic Oval of Villa Borghese from 22 to 26 May. The first day, Wednesday, will be the ouverture to the four eagerly awaited competition days, which the public will be able to attend free of charge, as has been the tradition in recent editions of the competition. The sports programme will take place between the historic square with the Green Oval and the Galoppatoio facility, redeveloped and reinterpreted not only from a sports point of view thanks to the Fise and Sport and Health project.

Brought back to its origins with the restoration of the turf instead of silica sand in 2018, the Oval was recently extended with 4,000 metres of green carpet, an operation that represents a strong message not only from a bio-architectural point of view. The final removal of the fence surrounding the Oval - by virtue of the green light from the institutions in charge - "is intended to be a message towards inclusion and the breaking down of all social, cultural, psychological and divisive barriers. A further metaphor that finds its natural symbolism in equestrian sports, where jumping over an obstacle - and therefore a barrier - is a crucial action towards a sporting result'. The commitment to biodiversity and safeguarding the planet's natural lungs in a city like Rome - the capital city has no equals in the world, not only for its historical, archaeological, landscape and architectural beauty, but also for the extension and variety of its green areas, which represents 67% of the municipal territory by virtue of 85 thousand hectares out of a total of 129 thousand - for the 2024 edition of the Piazza di Siena competition, the conservation and improvement of the Valle dei Platani, where the eleven seventeenth-century trees romantically defined as 'sentinels of Rome's eternity', and the younger ones were subjected to 'lightening' to ensure light and proper vital functions. All this is also thanks to a new fence, effective signage and an ad hoc irrigation system.

Piazza di Siena is also a 'museum nacelle' that opens up to major art exhibitions in the Villa Borghese museums and a restoration workshop that is renewed every year. For the first time, the Pietro Canonica Museum, located right in front of the Casino dell'Orologio, will host from 22 May to 15 September 2024 the exhibition curated by Sandro Santolini 'Questo è Aquilino figlio del vento' (This is Aquilino, son of the wind), in which portraits of the Rospigliosi horses from the Capitoline collections will be on display. The exhibition will consist of a series of canvases by the German painter Johan Reder, plus a painting by Paolo Monaldi, portraying the famous horses of Camillo Rospigliosi. An exhibition promoted by Roma Capitale - Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, in collaboration with Fise and Sport and Health and Museum Services of Zètema Progetto Cultura. The Piazza di Siena competition will also be the home of a sculptural relief - 'Il Rilievo del Cavaliere' - from the first half of the 2nd century AD, which will be displayed in the Casino dell'Orologio. It is a work that belongs to the 17th century nucleus of the Borghese Collection, reassembled and cleaned up especially for the occasion thanks to the collaboration between Roma Capitale - Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, Fise and Sport e Salute, and represents a young horseman with scale armour and boots decorated with leonté, holding the reins of a horse with his right hand, depicted only in front, in profile and in the act of advancing.

There is no shortage of great classical music on the opening day, with the great concert of the orchestra conducted by maestro Alvise Casellati organised by Intesa Sanpaolo, which, although private, will be free - following the philosophy of the Piazza di Siena model - for those who wish to enjoy it from the steps of the ancient grandstands of the Oval, restored during the project thanks to the competition. As always, Piazza di Siena will be visible free of charge for all those who wish, from the ancient grandstands and from various 'green' areas around the Oval. On the highlight day of the competition, in the late afternoon and at the end of the races, the thermometer of emotion will rise again thanks to the spectacular Caroselli on horseback of the IV Carabinieri Regiment, the Lancieri di Montebello and the boys of San Raffaele Viterbo.

Da sinistra Marco Di Paola, Andrea Abodi, Marco Mezzaroma e Giovanni Malagò (Mezzelani/Sport e Salute)

"The time has come for something more ambitious, that would allow Villa Borghese to have a day-to-day management, a shared foundation could be an excellence in the world". Thus the Minister for Sport and Youths, Andrea Abodi, during the press conference presenting the 91st CSIO di Piazza di Siena - Master D'Inzeo. Still referring to the idea of a Foundation for Villa Borghese, Abodi added that precisely the horse competition scheduled from 22 to 26 May is what 'represents the spirit of Villa Borghese, a spirit that can be declined with this foundation, which I offer to the Municipality of Rome, already knowing that Mayor Gualtieri, to whom I spoke a couple of years ago, has a positive interest. I offer our collaboration, in the hope that this dream can be consecrated'.