The exciting and enlightening series of free guided tours around the Prato area is back again this spring and summer. It marks the continued success of the initiative born out of a partnership between the Tuscan Region and Prato’s Chamber of Commerce and all the cities throughout the province.
Explore the unexpected with That’s Prato. Free tours every Sunday.
Want to explore? That’s Prato will cover an eclectic mix of themes: Fashion and Textiles, Industrial Archaeology, the Resistance, Wine, Villas and Castles, The Pilgrim’s Walk, and The Etruscan Past. This series of free tours will include visits to the area’s most intriguing museums celebrating Prato’s globally renowned vocation as a textile centre: Prato’s Textile Museum, Vernio’s MUMAT Museum and Cantagallo’s Materia Museum, plus cultural highlights like Figline’s Resistance Museum, Artimino’s Museum of Vines and Wine and Vaiano’s Badia Museum.
The brand-new feature for this series is a hiking special on June 2 and 18. Grab your boots, dress appropriately and join the guided hikes to the source of the Bisenzio river and the Javello beechwoods!
Free transportation from Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station is provided for all tours, which continue to be offered in Italian and English.
Follow all of the developments on www.thatsprato.com and reserve your slot via email: thatsprato@po.camcom.it.
THAT’S PRATO TOURS
FROM APRIL TO JUNE 2016
10 April+12 June
Female voices
The Female Voices tour takes a look at unique women who lived in the Prato area down the centuries.
Telling the story of the area through the special women who lived here. From the Medici villa of Poggio a Caiano, home to noble women with fascinating stories (Giovanna d’Austria, Bianca Cappello, Elisa Baciocchi, Rosa Vercellana and many more). Plus, there’s the endlessly interesting tale of Lucrezia Buti, who’s depicted in Filippo Lippi’s Salom. in the Duomo. Lastly, a tour of what was once the home of Francesco Datini and his wife Margherita Bandini.
Itinerary: Poggio a Caiano, Medici villa – Prato, Duomo tour (4 euro) – Francesco Datini house museum
17 April
Where fashion begins: Industrial Archaeology
Prato’s iconic textile museum
A tour of the factories and textile history of the area, which has always had a close rapport with the world of fashion. The factories are cathedrals of labour and a trademark of the district’s creativity. / Itinerary: Vernio, MUMAT museum – Cantagallo, Materia museum – Prato, textile museum, visit to the “Heritage” exhibition (5 euro)
24 April
Resist
Feeling holy at San Niccolò Conservatory, Prato
A special tour to learn about Prato’s Resistance, a story starring heroes and heroines that bravely served their country.
Itinerary: Figline, Resistance Museum – Prato, San Niccolò conservatory (5 euro)
30 April+29 May
Wine
Historic Carmignano winery Capezzana
To mark the 300th anniversary of Carmignano DOCG, the oldest appellation in Italy, a special winery tour with tasting sessions to get to know this unique wine and its history.
Itinerary: Capezzana, the Trefiano kitchen – Artimino, Museum of Vines and Wine – Carmignano, wine tasting
8 May+22 May+19 June
Villas and castles
Castello dell’Imperatore, Prato
Castles, noble villas and famous families who for centuries chose the Prato and Montemurlo area as their home. This tour also includes a visit to a traditional Montemurlo festival or an extraordinary opening.
Itinerary: Montemurlo, La Rocca – Prato, Castello dell’Imperatore
15 May
The Etruscan past
The beautiful medieval Palazzo Pretorio
In the beginning, the Etruscans chose Prato as the perfect place for their settlement, as evidenced by the tombs of Artimino. Palazzo Pretorio points the spotlight on this extraordinary people with its new exhibition “The Shadow of the Etruscans”.
Itinerary: Comeana, Etruscan tombs Montefortini – Artimino, “Museo Archeologico Nicosia” (2 euro) – Prato, Palazzo Pretorio exhibition “The Shadow of the Etruscans” (8 euro)
5 June+26 June
The Pilgrims’ Walk
A journey to the places of worship in the Prato area, which boasts a long history of Marian devotion, associated with the monasteries and religious places that date back to the Early Middle Ages
Itinerary: Vaiano, Badia Museum – Montepiano, tour of the Badia – Prato, San Niccolò conservatory (5 euro)
2 June – Hiking Special
To the Bisenzio source
Two special hiking dates: the Prato area offers myriad walking trails of varying levels of difficulty for all lovers of the outdoors. Dress appropriately and bring a packed lunch.
Hike: easy; 6 hours; 16 km, overall climb 500 m uphill and downhill. A beautiful hike in pristine countryside where herbs and bushland meet waterways. Route: Molino della Sega-Sorgente del Bisenzio-Faggione
18 June – Hiking Special
The beeches of Javello
A walk in the woods of the Appennines, with chestnut and beech woods as far as the top of Monte Javello, a striking “range” of centuries-old trees.
Hike: level E; 12 km approx.
Route: Vallupaia, Monte Javello, Passo delle Cavallaie, Migliana
