Why Palui?

Palui, the elders of the contrada explained to me, comes from "palude," meaning swamp, which seems absurd since we are on a ridge and water normally flows downhill. A swamp on a hill? Impossible! Nevertheless, the name is historical and can be found on very old maps.

And the mystery can be explained: Because it is a karstic area with underlying limestone slabs, the water collects between these slabs not far from the surface and is then forced upwards. In fact, there are two natural pools near the Contrada that never dry up, even after months of drought.

And these two ponds were so valuable in times before modern water pipes, when the livestock of the Contrada (and not only these) suffered from a lack of water during droughts, that the Contrada was given the name "paludi" or "palui".