Forteza11 : Prato

Prato Italy

Prato is a city and comune in Tuscany, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies at the foot of Monte Retaia, which rises to 768 metres (2,520 ft), the last peak in the Calvana chain. The lowest elevation in the comune is 32 metres (105 ft), near the Cascine di Tavola, and the highest is the peak of Monte Cantagrillo at 818 metres (2,684 ft). The Bisenzio River, a tributary of the Arno, flows through the city. Historically, Prato’s economy has been based on the textile industry. The renowned Datini Archives form a significant collection of late medieval documents on economic and trade history, produced between 1363 and 1410. Prato is also a centre of the Slow Food movement, with many local specialties, including cantucci, a type of biscotti, sold by local specialty bakers. Since the late 1950s, the city has experienced significant immigration, first from southern Italy and later from other countries, most notably a large Chinese community that began arriving in the late 1980s. With more than 191,000 inhabitants, Prato is Tuscany’s second-largest city and the third-largest in Central Italy, after Rome and Florence. Prato is home to many museums and cultural monuments, including the Filippo Lippi frescoes in the Cathedral of Santo Stefano, which have been recently restored. The Cathedral features an external pulpit by Donatello and Michelozzo, built and still used for displaying the cathedral’s famous relic of the Virgin Mary, the Girdle of Thomas (Sacra Cintola, a cord belt), which had great renown in the late Middle Ages and is often depicted in Florentine art. Also noteworthy is the Teatro Metastasio, the city’s main venue for opera and other theatrical productions, built in 1829–30.

Recommended airport

Firenze Airport (FLR)

Nearby destinations

Prato, Italy

Prato Italy