Prato

Prato is a 195,089 inhabitants city at the foot of Monte Retaia in the northern part of Tuscany, in Italy. It's also the capital city of the province of Prato and its most inhabited city, as well as the 2nd largest city in Tuscany and ther 3rd in central Italy. The city is well known for its textile industry and for being the place where traditional Tuscan cantucci were invented.

How do I arrive to Prato?

  Prato is an important city in Tuscany and moreover it's very close Florence so there are many ways to reach it. 

• Train: there are frequent trains to Florence and Pistoia (aprox. 20 minutes), among other destinations. It's also connected with Bologna (aprox. 50 minutes) in Emilia-Romagna.
• Bus: there aren't many buses to Prato.
• Car: if you rented a car from Prato it can be reached Pistoia (aprox. 20 minutes), Montecatini Terme (aprox. 30 minutes), Florence (aprox. 35 minutes), Lucca (aprox. 50 minutes), Florence (aprox. 35 minutes), Pisa and Viareggio (aprox. 1 hour) and Siena and Arezzo (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes). It can also be reached from Bologna (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes) and Modena (aprox. 1.5 hours) in Emilia-Romagna.

History

 Archaeological findings have proved that Prato's surrounding hills were inhabited since Paleolithic times and later colonized by the Etruscans. Around the 5th century BC, Romans had their Via Cassia pass through here, but did not build any settlement. In the early Middle Ages, the Byzantine and Lombard dominations prevailed in the region. The history of Prato itself begins from the 10th century when two distinct villages are known and then united under Alberti family, Counts of Prato. In those years the plain was drained and a hydraulic system created to feed the gualchierae (pre-industrial textile machines). After a siege in 1107 Prato could develop as a free commune with a flourishing textile industry and with the presence of the Holy Belt relic. In 1326,To counter the expansionism of the Republic of Florence, Prato submitted voluntarily under the seigniory of Robert of Anjou, King of Naples in 1326 but Joanna I of Naples sold the city to Florence in 1351; since then Prato's history followed that of Florence in the following centuries. During the War of the Holy League, in 1512, Prato was sacked by Spanish troops to recover the nearby city of Florence for the Medici family, leading the surrender of the Florentine Republic. In 1653 Prato obtained the status of city and became seat of a Catholic diocese. In the 18th century, with the ascent of Lorraine at the head of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the city was embellished and also experienced a significant cultural development. After the unification of Italy in the 19th century Prato became a primary industrial center, especially in the textile sector, and it population grew up to 50,000 in 1901 and to 180,000 in 2001. Previously part of the province of Florence, in 1992 Prato became the capital of the eponymous province. 
 

What can I visit in Prato?

The city is considered an under the radar destination (specially compared with neighbouring Pisa, Lucca or Florence) but it's still a very interesting place to visit on a daytrip. It preserves its city walls in a very good way and has nice squares such as Piazza della Duomo. At Piazza San Marco it can be found the famous Sculpture by Henry Moore, one of the many Contemporary sculptures in Prato.

These are Prato's main attractions:

• Prato Cathedral (9-15 Mon-Sat; free): 12th century duomo that combines a lot of stages of Romanesque style, seat of the Bishop of Prato since 1954. Its façade is done in a clear Pisan Romanesque style and has an excellent pulpit done by Michelozzo and Donatello in 1428 to expose the Girld of Thomas. Some of the highlights of the interior of the church are the serie of frescoes  Stories of St. Stephen and St. John the Baptist by Filippo Lippi in the main chapel and the 14th century frescoes located in Cintola Chapel, depicting the legend of the Girld of Thomas (or Santa Cintola), a kind of belt dropped by the Virgin Mary from the sky to St. Thomas the Apostle, that it's placed here after having been brought after the Second Crusade from Jerusalem. Cintola Chapel has a wonderful sculpture of Madonna and Child by Giovanni Pisano.
  
• Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (10-13 and 14-17 Mon and Wed-Sat, 14-17 Sun; 8€/ 6€  adults/ retiree, students and kids): museum that hosts a collection of works of art that used to be in the cathedral or belonged to the Bishop of Prato. They collection is divided into 6 themed rooms and exhibit works between the 13th and 15th century, Renaissance art, 17th to 19th century art, archaeological remains and  there's a room about the Girld of Thomas too.
• Museo Civico di Prato (10:30-18:30 Wed-Mon; 8€/ 6€  adults/ retiree, students and kids): nice museum located at 14th century Prato Old City Hall (Palazzo Pretorio) that shows the history of Prato and keeps a large collection of works of art that go from Medieval Ages to the 19th century. Some of the masterpieces of the collection are Madonna del Ceppo and Madonna della Cintola by Filippo Lippi.
  
• Datini Palace: palazzo that was home of the famous merchant Francesco di Marco Datini, notable for having implemented the first partnership system in business in 1383.Today it's home of the State Archives of Prato.
  
• Prato Emperor's Castle (10-16; free): fortress built in the 13th century for the King of Sicily Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. It has the typical Ghibelline ramparts and city walls too.
• Basilica of St. Maria delle Carceri (6.45-12.00 and 16.00-19.00; free): 15th century basilica with a green-and-white marble façade, considered one of the earliest and most notable examples of Greek-cross layout in Renaissance architecture. The entablature is decorated with a glazed terracotta frieze by Andrea della Robbia while the beautiful stained-glass windows were done by Domenico Ghirlandaio.
• Prato Textile Museum (10-15 Tue-Thu, 10-19 Fri-Sat, 15-19 Sun; 7€/ 5€  adults/ reduced): museum placed at the former textile mill Campolmi that teaches about the textile industry, the most important one in Prato since Middle Ages.
• Contemporary Art Center Luigi Pecci (12-20 Tue-Wed, 12-24 Thu-Sun; 10€/ 7€  adults/ reduced): surprising art museum at a curved and golden building desgined by Maurice Nio that is home of nice Contemporary works of art from the 1980s onwards. There are temporal exhibitions too.
• Museum of Planetary Science (): museum focused on the history of the universe, going from its birth and the one of the Solar System to the origins of the earth. It has a didactive collection of meteorites and minerals.
• Museum and Documentation Center for Deportation and Resistence (9:30-18:30 from Mar to Oct; 9:30-16:30 from Nov to Feb; free): museum built in the place where 99 partisans were captured on the 6th September 1944 (and later hanged). The museum is designed for the visitor to have the sensation of being in a concentration camp and pays tribute to deportees from Prato .

Palazzo Pretorio, home of Museo Civico di Prato

Prato Emperor's Castle

 

 

 

 

Where can I eat in Prato?

  Prato has some nice places to eat such as Le Barrique (Via Giuseppe Mazzoni 19) or the brewery Mostodolce (Via dell'Arco 6). It's also very typical buying the traditional biscotti di Prato at Antonio Mattei (Via Bettino Ricasoli 20/22).

Posted in: Europe,Italy,Tuscany