Provincia di Prato

The town of Prato, which experienced its maximum development in the Middle Ages, keeps its XIV-century walls that contain some of the most important monuments to be visited such as the characteristic tower-houses, which were built by the city’s most […]

The town of Prato, which experienced its maximum development in the Middle Ages, keeps its XIV-century walls that contain some of the most important monuments to be visited such as the characteristic tower-houses, which were built by the city’s most powerful families to represent their power, the Palazzo Pretorio and the Cathedral of Santo Stefano.

The territory near Prato is planted with vines and olives, above all in the area of Carmignano that is a centre famous for the production of the AOC “Carmignano Rosso” and of the “Vin Santo”. The historical-culture attractions, instead, are in the surrounding villages, where the Necropolis and the Etruscan finds/remains, as well as churches an monuments dating to the Roman times, can be visited.

Among the most interesting towns from a historical and artistic point of view, there are Vernio, with its ancient Abbey, Motemurlo, with the Church of Santo Stefano still having its original Romanesque façade, and Poggio a Caiano with its Villa Ambra.

This territory appears as a marriage of art, history and environmental heritage/patrimony represented by the Natural reserve of Cantagallo. Here, there is a huge centuries-old beech called “Faggio di Lungomano” that catches a lost of interest. Among the products of local gastronomy, there are the famous “Figs of Carmignano”, the chestnut flour typical of the city of Prato and the production of exquisite oil. The textile sector, instead, plays a major role in the production of pure cachemire and woollen clothes, to the extent that the area of Prato is the most renowned city on a national level for these manufactures that originated in the Middle Ages and that are internationally famous today.