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Prato
Prato (/ˈprɑːtoʊ/ PRAH-toh; Italian: [ˈpraːto] ⓘ) is a city and municipality (comune) in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of 65 metres (213 ft), at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana chain). With 198,326 inhabitants as of 2025, Prato is Tuscany's second largest city after Florence, and the third largest in Central Italy.
Historically, Prato's economy has been based on the textile industry which has continued in recent years leading to it becoming Italy's fast fashion hub. The city's textile district, the largest in Europe, is home to about 5000 fashion companies which are largely small, Chinese-run subcontractors engaging in illegal activity known as the "Prato system" run by Chinese organized crime. The left wing Partito Democratico (PD) has been implicated in the crimes with the PD mayor Ilaria Bugetti resigning after the opening of a corruption investigation against her in July 2025.
The city boasts important historical and artistic attractions, with a cultural span that started with the Etruscans and then expanded in the Middle Ages and reached its peak with the Renaissance, when artists such as Donatello, Filippo Lippi and Botticelli left their testimonies in the city. The renowned Datini archives are a significant collection of late medieval documents concerning economic and trade history, produced between 1363 and 1410.
Cantucci, a type of biscotti invented in Prato during the Middle Ages, are still produced by local traditional bakers.
Archaeological findings have proved that Prato's surrounding hills were inhabited since Paleolithic times. The plain was later colonized by the Etruscans. In 1997, remains of a previously unknown city from that civilization were discovered in the neighbourhood of Gonfienti near Campi Bisenzio. It was of medium size and it was already a centre for the wool and textile industry. According to some scholars, it could be the mythical Camars. The Etruscan city was inhabited until the 5th century BC, when, for undisclosed reasons, it decayed; control of the area later shifted to the Romans, who had their Via Cassia pass through here, but did not build any settlement.
In the early Middle Ages, the Byzantine and Lombard dominations prevailed in the region.
The history of Prato itself begins from the 10th century, when two distinct villages, Borgo al Cornio and Castrum Prati (Prato's Castle), are known. In the following century the two settlements were united under the lords of the castle, the Alberti family, who received the imperial title of Counts of Prato. In the same period the plain was drained and a hydraulic system regulating and exploiting the waters of the Bisenzio River was created to feed the gualchiere (pre-industrial textile machines).
After a siege in 1107 by the troops of Matilde of Canossa, the Alberti retreated to their family fortresses in the Bisenzio Valley: Prato could therefore develop as a free commune. Within two centuries it reached 15,000 inhabitants, spurred in by the flourishing textile industry and by the presence of the Holy Belt relic. Two new lines of walls had to be built in the mid-12th century, and in the early 14th century.
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Prato
Prato (/ˈprɑːtoʊ/ PRAH-toh; Italian: [ˈpraːto] ⓘ) is a city and municipality (comune) in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of 65 metres (213 ft), at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana chain). With 198,326 inhabitants as of 2025, Prato is Tuscany's second largest city after Florence, and the third largest in Central Italy.
Historically, Prato's economy has been based on the textile industry which has continued in recent years leading to it becoming Italy's fast fashion hub. The city's textile district, the largest in Europe, is home to about 5000 fashion companies which are largely small, Chinese-run subcontractors engaging in illegal activity known as the "Prato system" run by Chinese organized crime. The left wing Partito Democratico (PD) has been implicated in the crimes with the PD mayor Ilaria Bugetti resigning after the opening of a corruption investigation against her in July 2025.
The city boasts important historical and artistic attractions, with a cultural span that started with the Etruscans and then expanded in the Middle Ages and reached its peak with the Renaissance, when artists such as Donatello, Filippo Lippi and Botticelli left their testimonies in the city. The renowned Datini archives are a significant collection of late medieval documents concerning economic and trade history, produced between 1363 and 1410.
Cantucci, a type of biscotti invented in Prato during the Middle Ages, are still produced by local traditional bakers.
Archaeological findings have proved that Prato's surrounding hills were inhabited since Paleolithic times. The plain was later colonized by the Etruscans. In 1997, remains of a previously unknown city from that civilization were discovered in the neighbourhood of Gonfienti near Campi Bisenzio. It was of medium size and it was already a centre for the wool and textile industry. According to some scholars, it could be the mythical Camars. The Etruscan city was inhabited until the 5th century BC, when, for undisclosed reasons, it decayed; control of the area later shifted to the Romans, who had their Via Cassia pass through here, but did not build any settlement.
In the early Middle Ages, the Byzantine and Lombard dominations prevailed in the region.
The history of Prato itself begins from the 10th century, when two distinct villages, Borgo al Cornio and Castrum Prati (Prato's Castle), are known. In the following century the two settlements were united under the lords of the castle, the Alberti family, who received the imperial title of Counts of Prato. In the same period the plain was drained and a hydraulic system regulating and exploiting the waters of the Bisenzio River was created to feed the gualchiere (pre-industrial textile machines).
After a siege in 1107 by the troops of Matilde of Canossa, the Alberti retreated to their family fortresses in the Bisenzio Valley: Prato could therefore develop as a free commune. Within two centuries it reached 15,000 inhabitants, spurred in by the flourishing textile industry and by the presence of the Holy Belt relic. Two new lines of walls had to be built in the mid-12th century, and in the early 14th century.
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