The Wrought Iron Goose

It was Giuseppe Aguzzi, in 1987, who turned to Maestro Antonio Cerretini, known as Tonino, to give concrete shape to the dream of the Palio: a prize worthy of the event, capable of representing the history, craftsmanship, and soul of Cagli. Maestro Cerretini, an iron artisan of extraordinary skill, created a work destined to become a legend: a wrought iron goose of rare beauty, which remains the city's most desired trophy to this day.

The photograph kept by the Cerretini family shows Maestro Cerretini in the summer of 1987, a few days before delivering the work. He holds the goose in his arms with the pride of someone who knows he has created something eternal. That same goose has passed through almost forty years of Palio history, moving from district to district, carrying with it the stories of those who won it and those who continued to chase it.

Tradition dictates that every year, after the victory, the goose is displayed in the shops of the winning district along the streets of Cagli. It is a simple and powerful ritual: the entire city can approach the trophy, look at it, touch it. A way to keep alive the bond between the event and the daily life of Cagli, because the Palio doesn't end on that Sunday in August, it continues all year round, wherever that unmistakable wrought iron silhouette is seen.