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Prato and that points to the future

www.pratoturismo.it ENG Prato and Montemurlo

Prato and Montemurlo one after discover treasures of the Etruscan the other, lying on a teeming and era, passing through the Middle busy plain, surrounded by moun- Ages and reaching the contempo- tains and hills in the heart of Tu- rary age. Their geographical posi- scany, united by a common destiny tion is strategic for visiting a large that has made them famous wor- part of Tuscany; a few kilometers ldwide for the production of pre- away you can find Unesco heritage cious and innovative fabrics, offer sites (the two Medici of Pog- historical, artistic and landscape gio a Caiano and Artimino), pro- attractions of great importance. tected areas and cities of art among Going to these territories means the most famous in the world, such making a real journey through as , Lucca, Pisa and Siena. time, through artistic itineraries to

2 3 Prato contemporary city between tradition and innovation PRATO CONTEMPORARY CITY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

t is the second city in combination is in two highly repre- Tuscany and the third in sentative museums of the city: the central for number Textile Museum and the Luigi Pec- of inhabitants, it is a ci Center for Contemporary Art. The contemporary city ca- city has written its history on the art pable of combining tradition and in- of reuse, regenerated from rags novation in a synthesis that is always has produced wealth, style, fashion; at the forefront, it is a real open-air the art of reuse has entered its DNA laboratory. Whoever wants to have a and today, together with and vision of the future must look for it , it has become a “City for cir- in Prato! Prato is the textile city par cularity”. It is the city that redesigns excellence, here creativity has found itself through innovative solutions full inspiration in art and the most such as the Urban Jungle project, a evident expression of this incredible real green revolution!

5 PRATO CONTEMPORARY CITY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

rato is also history, Lippi, Bernardo Daddi and Giovan- art and tradition, with ni da Milano. Walking a few meters a historic center that you arrive in the beautiful Piazza will be a pleasant and Duomo where the of Santo unexpected surprise Stefano is located, on whose façade for everyone, starting with the im- stands the pulpit by and posing Emperor’s Castle: the only , while inside the splen- testimony of Swabian architectu- did frescoes by are re in central-northern Italy which, kept. From the Pulpit on the 8th of together with the of San- September, the Sacred Belt of the ta Maria delle Carceri, dominates Madonna is shown to the citizens: the beautiful Piazza delle Carceri, a relic to which the people of Prato where the of the of San are particularly devoted. Next to the Francesco also faces. In Piazza del Cathedral, the Cathedral Museum , caressed from above by where works by great artists such as the loving gaze of its most famous Filippo Lippi, Donatello, Micheloz- merchant - Francesco di Marco zo and many others are kept. Do not Datini (1335 - 1410), is the Palaz- miss the Textile Museum, located zo Pretorio, which in its imposing in the Former Campolmi Factory, elegance houses the civic museum a nineteenth-century production where you can admire masterpieces complex, an admirable testimony by Donatello, Filippo and Filippino of industrial archeology.

6 Instead of arriving at the door of Pi- The sacred Belt stoia, wandering around in the fog he had returned to that of Prato, whe- between history re he shouted: “Opento to me, open and legend to me Pistoia people: I have the Belt of the Prato people!”. He was thus The story of the Belt of the Madonna, captured and condemned to be cut kept in the Cathedral of Prato, is a fa- off his right hand, which according scinating intertwining of truths and to popular tradition, was thrown by popular beliefs. According to tradi- the angry crowd on the facade of the tion, it was delivered by the Madonna church where an imprint still visible to San Tommaso and, after several today remained. The story of the belt passages, to the Prato merchant Mi- is told in a fascinating succession of chele Dagomari who, on his death, images: from Bernardo Daddi, in the gave it to the head of the parish chur- predella of the Palazzo Pretorio Mu- ch of Santo Stefano. It is said that its seum to Agnolo Gaddi in the frescoes miraculous fame inspired legendary in the Chapel of the Belt in the Cathe- thefts such as the most famous one dral. The Sacred Belt is shown to the of Giovanni di ser Landetto, known public five times a year: at Christmas, as Musciattino, who stole the relic at Easter, the 1st of May, the 15th of in 1312 but was lost in the fog, which August and at the end of the Histo- suddenly fell in defense of the relic. rical Parade on the 8th of September.

7 PRATO CONTEMPORARY CITY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

The itinerary can only start from Discovering the Pecci Center in Prato, the first in Italy to be built specifically to contemporary host and promote the internatio- art nal artistic avant-gardes. Built in 1988 on a project by the rationalist architect Italo Gamberini, it has been completely renovated on the futuristic project of the architect Maurice Nio. Today it has a col- lection of one thousand works by three hundred artists, including Mimmo Paladino, Mauro Staccioli, Jan Fabre, Lucio Fontana, Miche- langelo Pistoletto. But contem- porary art does not end in the mu- seum because everywhere, in the city, as in the rest of the province, we find installations and testimo- nies of contemporary authors of absolute artistic value such as the famous Square shape with cut by Henry Moore, which has become the symbol of the city, the Exegi monumentum aere perennius by Anne and Patrick Poirier, the Maz- zocchio by Ben Jacober and Yannik Vu, Waterbones Climbing in Tran- sition State by Loris Cecchini, the Great Dreamer by Fabrizio Corneli, Prometheus Strangling the Vulture II by Jacques Lipchitz, The missing link in the chain that is not there by Marco Bagnoli and many others and in Montemurlo: the Time Ma- chine, the Door of Memory, the Chapel of Light and the Factories of Art garden.

8 PRATO CONTEMPORARY CITY BETWEEN TRADITION AND INNOVATION

Palazzo Pretorio Textile Museum Museum

Cathedral Lugi Pecci Center for Datini Museum Contemporary Art Palace

Museum Leonetto Tintori Planetary of Deportation House/Museum Science Museum

93 Montemurlo

ontemurlo is part of cinto Fabroni. Noteworthy are the the Prato textile di- splendid villas spread throughout strict and, like Prato, the municipal area that belonged to it is a place in constant the wealthiest Florentine families evolution for innova- that found relief in these rich coun- tion and sustainability. The rapid tryside: al Parugiano, Vil- process of industrialization of the la del Barone located on the slopes city in the 1960s has urbanistical- of Mount Iavello, Villa Strozzi, Villa ly transformed the plain while the di Popolesco, Villa di Javello, finally foothills and hills retain their ori- Villa Giamari, built in the sixteenth ginal appearance and atmosphere. century, today the seat of the mu- Among harmonious nicipal library. Going towards Oste, of villas and fortresses immersed inside an Italian garden, stands Villa in a suggestive landscape context, Scarfantoni, built as an elegant mid- Montemurlo knows how to surpri- dle-class residence at the end of the se the traveler who does not suspect 19th century and equipped with a such a concentration of small trea- private chapel. Nature lovers will sures, such as the Borgo della Roc- not fail to explore the Protected na- ca where the Fortress of Montemur- tural area of Monteferrato which, ex- lo (14th century) stands, while in tending between Prato and Monte- the main square of the town there murlo, characterizes even more the is the Parish church of San Giovanni vocation of green and sustainable Decollato, which houses paintin- cities of both territories, promo- gs by , Giovanni ters of increasingly smart and green Stradano, Matteo Rosselli and Gia- change projects.

10 THE BATTLE OF MONTEMURLO

The Battle was followed by the unification and pacification of Tuscany under the of Montemurlo Medici. Therefore, rather than a moment of war, the Historical Pa- It took place on the 2nd of August rade that recalls the battle intends 1537 between the Florentine exi- to celebrate an event that opened les, led by Baccio Valori and Filip- the way for the peace of this villa- po Strozzi – respectively owners ge and of the all Tuscany. The Hi- of the Villa del Barone and Villa storical Parade takes place every Strozzi - and the troops of Cosimo year on the last Sunday of June in I de ‘Medici. The exiles, led by Fi- the hamlet of Oste and it consists lippo Strozzi, were barricaded in- of several events preceding the pa- side the village and the Fortress, rade: “The day” in the but they could do nothing against Park of Villa Giamari, the Renais- the army of Cosimo I, formed by sance Banquet inside the Borgo 10.000 soldiers. The battle also had della Rocca or the Tumble of circles an echo in the surrounding plain and barrels in Piazza Don Milani in and in the neighboring villages, Montemurlo, where the districts of which were on the alert for a pos- Montemurlo challenge each other sible attack by Cosimo. The battle in a race against time.

11 A plain where nature and green are close at hand

A short distance from the city center, hikers and nature lovers can explo- re the Calvana Mountains surrounding Prato, the Park of Galceti at the foot of Monteferrato, the Cascine Medicee, the Bisenzio river park.

The Cascine Medicee, south of Pra- The Park of Galceti, which covers to, are today a splendid park of about an area of eight hectares and is sur- three hundred hectares. Built in the rounded by a protected area of six fifteenth century at the behest of hundred, is the largest green area Lorenzo the Magnificent, they were in Prato. The Center for Natural the agricultural estate adjacent to Sciences finds its ideal venue within the Medici Villa of . the park. www.csn.prato.it

12 3 NATURE AND GREEN CLOSE AT HAND

The protected natural area of Mon- autiful Tuscan churches: the Bapti- teferrato, between Montemurlo and stery of Florence, the Basilica of San Prato, offers a unmistakeable Tu- Miniato al Monte, the Badia Fiesola- scan landscape, with a hilly belt and na, the of Prato, Floren- areas with specific geological and ce and Siena, the bell tower of the naturalistic features, such as the and many other ophiolitic area of Monteferrato from monuments also from the Gothic which was extracted the green mar- period and up to the Renaissance ble of Prato also called serpentine, period (Santa Maria delle Carceri in widely used since the to Prato, the facade of Santa Maria No- enrich the facades of the most be- vella in Florence).

133 NATURE AND GREEN CLOSE AT HAND

hanks to the nume- that enhances an ancient road route rous footpaths and an more than two thousand years old, articulated network of the - Clodia, which con- cycle paths, the Pra- nects the cities of Florence, Prato, to plain connects with Pistoia, Pescia and Lucca, forming the Bisenzio Valley and the Medici a stretch of the Way to Santiago de municipalities of Poggio a Caiano Compostela. The Route of San Ja- and . From Prato starts copo in Tuscany crosses a terri- the Via della Lana e della Seta/Wool tory made unique by the frequency and Silk Route, a 130 km long hiking of exceptional historical, artistic, route with 6 stages which, naturalistic and religious testimo- the Bisenzio Valley, reaches nies. It crosses the Protected Area and the Via Medicea/Medici Route, an of Monteferrato, climbing to the itinerary among the Unesco heri- highest point of the stage (Mount tage villas of Poggio a Caiano, Car- Lopi) and then continuing through mignano and Cerreto Guidi, which the countryside on the Via Baronese connects the city with Fucecchio and to the Fortress of Montemurlo. Then the Via Francigena. Prato and Mon- it crosses the Agna river on the hi- temurlo are also crossed by the Rou- storical bridge near the Villa di Smi- te of San Jacopo, a religious itinerary lea, to reach Pistoia and Lucca.

14 From the owls, eagles, turtles and benches ancient cedars that recall the villages and even a miniature of the Fortress of Monte- a fairytale garden murlo. The sculptures, which peep is born along the out among the cypresses, seem to come out of fairy tales, characters Bagnolo stream that stimulate the imagination of children and evoke ancient memo- The garden was born from some ries in adults. The garden is open trunks of old fallen cedars which, and available to those who want thanks to the skill of real wood ar- to take a dip in a fantastic world, tists, have taken on a new shape, perhaps enjoying, on summer eve- becoming fairy-tale sculptures de- nings, the fresh air from the flowing picting gnomes, giant mushrooms, of the Bagnolo stream.

15 eatPRATO and the flavors of the territory

n Prato and Monte- excellence, one cannot forget the murlo there is no shor- bread, indeed the Prato Bozza and tage of gastronomic all the baked goods made with Gran excellence and quali- Prato flour, craft beers, and other ty products, starting excellent products of the territory with the Biscuits of Prato, famous such as the very original Vermouth all over the world and heritage of of Prato, Carteano and Filettole oil, the collective memory of the city, Montemurlo oil which is celebrated the Prato peaches cakes, the Prato every year during the Oil Festival Mortadella PGI, a Slow Food pro- which promotes one of the flag- tected product, which recently has ship products of the Montemurlo found a new and original version food industry. The event is held in produced with the meat of black the Borgo della Rocca, that is the pigs of the “Macchiaiola” breed, ancient and characteristic part of a niche in the niche. Speaking of Montemurlo overlooking the mo-

16 EATPRATO FLAVORS OF THE TERRITORY

dern town. Another excellence of Montemurlo is the Pinot Noir pro- duced in the Villa di Bagnolo by the Marquises Pancrazi, a very origi- nal wine born from a lucky mista- ke caused by an exchange of grape variety, the Pinot instead of the Sangiovese traditionally grown in those areas. Thanks to this mista- ke, an excellent wine is produced, so much so that, in 2020, the Pinot Nero Vigna Baragazza vintage 2015 All this and the best of local food obtained the coveted 4 vines assi- and wine and pastry are promoted gned by the Italian Sommelier As- with numerous activities during sociation to the best wines. the eatPRATO events.

173 Recurring events

Chinese New Year January/February - Prato Libri d’Italia from March to July - Prato Prato Campus Week April - Prato Prato Marathon April - Prato Datini Week May - Prato Historical Parade June - Montemurlo Wheat festival June - Montemurlo eatPRATO June/December - Prato eatPRATOWalking Spring/Autumn Prato Estate from June to September - Prato Prato Abetone July - Prato A Spasso con l’Oste July - Montemurlo Settembre Prato è Spettacolo September - Prato Contemporanea Festival September - Prato Historical Parade September - Prato Palla Grossa September - Prato Montemurlo Art and Work September - Montemurlo Chestnut festival October - Montemurlo Oil festival November - Montemurlo Pratofestival December-January - Prato

18 PRATO AND MONTEMURLO

How to get to FOR THOSE COMING BY BUS Prato Blue line LAM-MT from Firenze Shuttle bus from Pisa airport

FOR THOSE COMING BY CAR FOR THOSE COMING BY TRAIN A1 -Sesto Fiorentino exit Bologna-Florence, Central Station A1 connection A11 Firenze Nord Florence-Viareggio, Central Station, A11 Prato Est, Prato Ovest exits Porta al Serraglio Station SS 325 Prato-Bologna www.trenitalia.it

How to get to FOR THOSE COMING BY BUS FOR THOSE COMING BY CAR Montemurlo Purple line bus from Prato A11 Prato Ovest exit

PRATOTURISMO INFOPOINT Tourist Information Office Piazza del Comune - 59100 Prato Ph./fax +39 0574 24112 [email protected] www.pratoturismo.it

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TOURIST INFORMATION OFFICE PRO LOCO MONTEMURLO c/o Centro Giovani - Piazza Don Milani, 3 Ph. +39 0574 558584 Fax +39 0574 558274 [email protected] - www.prolocomontemurlo.prato.it

Photo credits: Adriana Pagliai, Egisto Nino Ceccatelli, Fernando Guerra, Ilaria Pascucci, Ivan d’Alì, Lucilla Righi, Mauro Gazzara, Simone Ridi, Stefano Roiz

19 Prato Tourist Area includes the municipalities of: Prato, Cantagallo, Carmignano, Montemurlo, Poggio a Caiano, , www.pratoturismo.it

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