Pearls in the Rubbish Pile

In the middle of the heavily industrialized Tuscan plains lies Prato, a town that 174.513 (Jan. 2001) human beings seem very happy to call home. A newcomer will, upon entering the town, wonder if he/she has taken a wrong turn somewhere. You will have to cross several vast areas with ugly factories, office blocks, and warehouses before you arrive to more pleasant spots. In some cases, the pleasant spots can be rather hard to spot, as they tend to hide in between the rubbish. And the fact that the town is situated a stone's throw from the beautiful city of
Florence, well known for its lovely architecture and the home of uncountable antique treasures, does indeed give the impression that the pleasant spots of Prato may not even exist.

The Town Wall

However, the pleasant spots are there. You just have to look a bit closer. Near the center of the town, the first glittering pearl of tremendous beauty will be the Town Wall (built ca. 1175-1196), of which several of the eight original gates still are in use today. For the best view of the wall from the outside, we recommend a walk down the newly built footpath along the river Bisenzio which follows the wall on the eastern side. This walk can be a pleasant experience even for those with no interest in the town wall, we might add. From inside the wall, our best tip is to stop and gawk a bit every time a piece of the wall can be glimpsed between the houses.

The Emperor's Castle

The next pearl to admire will be the Emperor's Castle, built by Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250), to guard the south route and as a resting place on travels across the empire. The building is believed to have been raised between 1242-1248 and is said to look more or less the same today with its square lay out and four main towers. Poor Frederick was not able to enjoy his castle - he died shortly after the work was finished - and in the years to come, the castle has been used mostly as barracks for the military and also as a military prison. In the thirties, the castle was partly restored and is today used for cultural manifestations. In summer, for instance, you can enjoy the latest movies under open sky on the castle yard.

The Cathedral of St. Stephen

We move on to the Cathedral of St. Stephen. The facade of the small - for a cathedral - building is charmingly striped with white and dark green marble from a local quarry. Above and to the left of the door is the famous open-air pulpit, built by Donatello and Michelozzo (finished 1434), and decorated all around with a band of delightful little 'putti'. The pulpit was built to display Prato's most treasured relic, the Virgin's Girdle, which is said to have been given to St. Thomas by the Virgin herself when he - true to his character - told his mates he found the story of the Virgin's Assumption a bit hard to swallow.

There's More

We could also mention the Palazzo Pretorio, one of the strangest buildings on the planet, with its mixture of architectural styles ranging from who-knows-when to today, but we won't. This building is indescribable and an absolute must see. If you are daring (and invisible), you can climb it and collect the pillow-sized lump of pure gold that a long-dead Pratesian family placed between the bricks about 12-15 meters off the ground to keep it safe from raiding neighbours.

We could also discuss the many contemporary sculptures that can be found scattered about town. For instance "Large Square Form with Cut" by British Henry Moore (1898-1986), popularly known among the Pratesi as "Il Buco" (the hole). But as these works of art don't fall under the category 'pearls' in this particular Researcher's book, we'll leave them out and hope that a more understanding Researcher will take the challenge and write something about them.

Prato has, of course, several other pleasant spots than those we have looked at here, but we'll leave them for you to discover.

We will round off this little tour in Prato with a small list of...

Famous Pratesi

Francesco di Marco Datini (1335-1410), inventor of the promissory note/bill of exchange
Roberto Benigni (1952- ), famous actor, comedian and director, won 3 Oscars for his film "Life is Beautiful" in 1999
Paolo Rossi (1956- ), football player famous for his efforts in the 1982 World Championships in Spain
Jury Chechi (1969- ), gymnast who won gold medal on rings in the World Championships five times in a row (1993-97), and a gold in the Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996, also known as "The Lord of the Rings"

Note: An illustrated version of this story can be found here.