That’s Prato!

That’s Prato!

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Thu 16 Jul 2015 12:00 AM

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Earlier this summer the Tuscan Region partnered with Prato’s Chamber of Commerce and all the cities throughout the province, launching an exciting Sunday series of free guided visits through the area’s standout monuments, museums and neighborhoods. A total of 350 eager visitors participated in the first ten Sundays, and Prato has already started gearing up for the next round of visits.

 

Curiosity about the ‘Textile City’ and its neighboring towns abounds among locals, long-term residents and travelers, too. To date, almost 150 people have taken part in the English tours. Luca Giusti, president of Prato’s Chamber of Commerce, noted that several participants have ended up booking multiple Sundays.

 

Want to see what all the buzz is about? After the summer holidays, That’s Prato will pick up steam again on September 6, offering the original five itineraries with some slight tweaks. The themes will include Contemporary Art and Industrial Archaeology, The Noble Trail: Villas and Castles, Art and Food in the Renaissance, The Pilgrim’s Walk, and The Etruscan Past. 

 

Though you may have trouble imagining it in the current heat, once the autumn series arrives with the breeze, chances to Christmas shop will be added to several Sunday schedules. Free transportation from Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station is still provided for all tours, which will 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

 

Full program

September 6 & October 25: Art & Food in the Renaissance

The first tour (on September 6, to be repeated on October 25) will focus on art and food in the Renaissance, a fitting tribute as the food-themed Universal Exposition continues in Milan. The tour starts at the beautiful Medici villa of Poggio a Caiano, which last year became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to exquisite depictions of food and table traditions in art and currently hosting the exhibition Nelle antiche cucine. In the afternoon, visitors can see inside Prato Cathedral with its fifteenth-century frescoes by Filippo Lippi, along with the Basilica delle Carceri. On the September 6 tour, take part in the Il Succo del Sole festival in Seano; on October 25, the group will stop at Prato’s chocolate fair. 

October 4: Contemporary art and industrial archaeology

Take a tour of contemporary art and industrial archaeology on October 4. Prato’s factories are not just monuments of work but also of culture: the tour begins at Poggio a Caiano’s Ardengo Soffici Museum, an influential modern Italian artist, and continues with a tour of Prato’s Textile Museum, situated in the striking industrial setting of the former Campolmi factory. We’ll take time to check out the Facewall exhibition on the multicultural city of Prato. Another stop is the Forti factory, one of the few examples of factory towns in Italy, formerly home to approximately 3,000 people. Participants will also get a chance to visit the exciting Synchronicity: Contemporaries, from Lippi to Warhol exhibition taking place at Palazzo Pretorio. 

 

September 13 & October 11: The Pilgrims’ Walk

The Prato area has a long history associated with pilgrimage and holy sites. On September 13 & October 11, follow in the footsteps of pilgrims past, stopping in at some of the key points they visited on their journeys through the Appenines. The tour will stop in the monastery of San Niccolò, where noble Florentine ladies were once educated, a place vaunting a wealth of history as well as a striking place of worship. The Bardi Oratory in Vernio is the second stop, believed to be home to the first ever opera, followed by the Badia di San Salvatore in Vaiano, recently reopened to the public with a new exhibition on local history, whose roots date to the Early Middle Ages. On October 25, there will also be a special opening of the monastery of San Clemente. 

 

September 20 & October 18: The Etruscan Past

On September 20 and October 18, the theme will be the Etruscan past: starting in Prato city centre, visit the Etruscan tombs of Comeana and Artimino, a jewel in the Montalbano hills, as well as a tour of the Archaeological Museum and the old village with its unparalleled Medici villa. The trip comes to a close by admiring Pontormo’s stirring work of art, Visitation.

 

September 27: The Noble Trail

Nobility is the buzzword for the September 27 tour. Granted, you won’t encounter princesses but Prato has long since been home to leading families and illustrious names from the Renaissance onward. The city’s most famous resident was Frederick II of Swabia, the man behind Prato’s much-loved Castello dell’Imperatore. The Noble Trail: Villas and Castles tour continues in Montemurlo, with a tour of the fortress and renowned wine-making estate of the Marchese Pancrazi.

 

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