Inhabitants in 1991: 165.707
The
municipal territory of Prato extends for 97,59 square kilometres in the
plains of the Val di Bisenzio. Feudal dominion, then free municipality
subdivided into urban boroughs called Eighths (Porta San Giovanni,
Porta Travaglio, Porta Gualdimare, Porta Fuia, Porta Santa Trinita, Porta
a Corte, Porta Capo di Ponte, Porta Tiezi) and in neighbourhoods (Santo
Stefano, Santa Maria, Santa Trinita, San Marco), Prato – from
1863 had the official denomination of “Prato in Toscana” and
returned definitely to being simply Prato in 1931 - it reached its present
day territorial aspect in 1949, when the districts of Vaiano and
Solignano were detached from it and became an autonomous municipality
denominated Vaiano.
It seems to have been ascertained that in the Prato area there was in
ancient times a settlement first Ligure then Etrusco (VII-V cen.
B.C.) and finally the so called “pagus Cornius Romano”
(Roman village called Pagus) and that the habitation had been destroyed
in the VI century during the Greek-Gothic war. A long time passed
before Prato reappeared, in the history of the X century, when it resulted
as being organised in two distinct nuclei: the castle of the Counts Alberti
and the Borgo al Cormo, developed around the parish church of Santo Stefano.
In the second half of the XI century, for the notable influx of
immigrants from the nearby countryside, the habitation by now extended
and constituted as a single body, was surrounded by walls, and
the Alberti were the definitive Counts of Prato by Imperial Investiture;
The power of these descendents was such that Matilde di Toscana and
her allies, according to the chronicle source, besieged Prato and
razed it to the ground in 1107. Probably destroying the walls but
the inhabited centre survived since in 1142 we have the first mention
of the municipal consuls, an organisation which took on an antagonistic
function when confronted with the authorities, the Bishop of Pistoia and
the Alberti (who finished by ceding their rights as Earls to the Emperor
in the second half of the XII century); meanwhile between the end of the
XII century and the start of the XIII a new circle of walls was
erected with a perimeter of around 1700 metres. After a phase in which
the consuls guiding the municipality alternated with local and foreign
Podestas, from 1224 the Podesta institution was stable and Prato in these
years saw the relentless struggles between the two camps of the Guelfi
and the Ghibellini. They were in favour of the family Sveva in the
fourth and fifth decades of the 1200s, when Federico d’Antiochia,
son of Federco II and his vicar in Toscana, had the castle constructed
known as “dell’imperatore” (The Emperor’s) –
from 1252 it was governed by a first governor of the people, from 1260
to 1267 by a Ghibellino government, then by a Guelfi regime: in 1285 it
installed a new regime of the eight defenders, with a government composed
only of the people which in September 1292 promulgated a collection of
dispositions (the Sworn Regulations) intended to discriminate the magnates,
that is the exponents of the traditional patronage of the city.
At the start of the 1300s, Prato could claim to have managed, in one
and a half centuries to conquer, starting from scratch, notable autonomous
space compared to the nearby Pistoia and Firenze (however it rarely left
the wake of the latter in its political choice), having a small district,
it possessed a higher number of inhabitants to that of “ancient”
Pistoia and Arezzo,
it had a management class consisting of a large and fortified representation
of productive rank and in this period realised several of its most significant
architectural works, from palaces of the powerful laity to the churches
of San Francesco and San Domenico, and to the squares of the Parish and
the Market. It then seemed that Firenze was no longer content to have
Prato as an ally and tended towards annexation, forcing it for long periods
of protectorate, to free itself of this the governing Pratesi first offered
the Lordship to Roberto d’Angiò (from 1313 to 1319) and then
– when the Toscani Guelfi were busy with a decisive encounter with
Castruccio Castracani Lord of Lucca and Pistoia – from 1327 they
gave the perpetual Lordship to the Angioino Prince Carlo and his descendants.
The premature death of Carlo (1328) and the absence and lack of interest
by his inheritors made it into a mediocre remedy which did not free Prato
from the Fiorentina threats.
In 1343 a Magnate family from Prato, the Guazzalotti took over power,
with the indispensable consent of the Fiorentini, in July 1350, but
Firenze occupied Prato militarily, threw out the Guazzalotti and
to save form and the good relationship with the Angioini, acquired the
Pratese land in 1351 generously giving 17,500 florins to the Queen Giovanna
di Napoli. From then having conserved a certain administrative autonomy,
Prato followed the fate of the Toscano capital, without any serious
intolerance (if one exempts the attempts to reconquer it by Iacopo Guazzalotti
from 1351 to 1353, and an anti-Medicea revolt in 1470), but they were
certainly condemned to a condition of subordination which would became
difficult above all from the end of the XV century. In 1384 the long
work of the last surrounding walls was completed (a perimeter of 4,500
metres) which encompassed enormous areas of greenery since Prato had also
suffered in this decade a radical demographic re-dimensioning. In 1512
it suffered a pillage of unprecedented ferocity by the Spanish troops
who had come to restore the Podesta of the Medicea Lords. In 1653, managing
to obtain only part of the for centuries sought after objective, Prato
was designated diocese in union (and equal grade) with Pistoia, even if
the Bishop continued to reside practically always in the other Seat; however
it was thus possible for the Grand Duke Ferdinando II to concede it the
title of city. If in the XVI and XVII centuries Prato lived a torpid life,
already in the 1700s it began to draw out the hypothesis of the modern
city, with the economic, cultural and political growth of the new
middle class, protagonists of the 1800s development. These developments
in their own way gave proof of the excessive discussions which divided
the city and gave start to the revolts of May 1787 against the Ecclesiastic
reforms wanted by Bishop Scipione dei Ricci and the growing fortunes of
the Cicognini college launched as being one of the most prestigious
Italian schools.
The XIX century opened with favourable prospects on which the political
incidents had little effect, not during the period of French government
nor that of the successive phase of the Lorensi restoration, to whom however
must be given the merit of having motivated manufacture and trade. Despite
this Prato actively participated in the movement for the unity of Italy,
with a well fuelled group of patriots, among whom in the forefront were
Piero Cironi and Giuseppe Mazzoni, one of the three heads of the provisional
Toscano government in 1848. After the Union the leadership of the municipality
was alternated between moderate administration and radical democratic,
which kept the local dialectic politics lively. This was more acute because
Prato was in full industrial development and characterised by the presence
of the always more extensive working class, between the end of
the 1800s and the start of the 1900s, there was the first big strike of
the weavers; in 1919, at the first universal suffrage election the socialist
party had 63% of the votes and the peoples party 22%. This did not stop,
a few years later, a rapid turn to Fascism by the city, but there remained
nuclei of opposition to the regime which was able to furnish a valid contribution
to the clandestine struggles and the Liberation, which came on the
5 September 1944 with the intervention, first by the partisan formations
and then, by the allied troops. After the war, from 1948 characterised
by an uninterrupted series of municipal administrations by the left, it
overcame, in a brief period, the phase of reconstruction of the war damage
which had had a heavy toll on buildings and machinery.
The socio-economic physiognomy of Prato was later accentuated, and in
consequence of the industrial fortune (which had alternate periods of
great expansion and phases of negative circumstances) had expanded the
numbers of inhabitants through migratory fluxes from the neighbouring
towns above all from the south; while the city was enlarged with the construction
of numerous peripheral quarters, they completed a series of interventions
in the centre of restoration, retraining programmes and street furniture.
Perhaps motivated by the wish to contradict the image of a city dedicated
only to material work and to earnings, Prato, in the last thirty years
is marked for a series of initiatives and manifestations which has qualified
it also as a cultural centre on international level.
Among the illustrious men born in Prato one must remember Cardinal
Niccolò Albertini da Prato, authoritative politician of
his time but no one listened to him in his home town (died 1321); Ugo
Panziera, theologian and Francescano missionary (died 1322); Paolo
dell'Abbaco, mathematician (1281 ca.-1365 ca.); Convenevole da
Prato, grammatist, maestro del Petrarca (cen. XIV); lacopo di Zarino
Guazzalotti, Cavalier (sec. XIV); Merchant par excellence Francesco
di Marco Datini (1335 ca.-1410) and his friend notary Ser Lapo
Mazzei (died 1412); man of letters and architecto Giovanni Gherardi
(1367-1444); artist Filippino Lippi (1457-1504); Cesare Guasti,
archivist and historian (1822-1888); dramatist Sem Benelli (1877-1949);
writer Curzio Malaparte (1898-1957).
It's easily reached by the A11 Firenze-Mare highway which goes to Versilia
and was built in the 1930s.
At various points in its history Prato has been extremely
important for its textile production, both nationally
and at a European level. From a logistical point of view, it also has
the advantage of being located on the Firenze-Bologna rail line. It's
halfway between Firenze and Pistoia, and the three cities together make
up what on paper is called the Firenze-Prato-Pistoia "metropolitan area".
Always a source of conflict between Firenze and Pistoia, it lost its
independence to Firenze in the middle of the 14th century, and its business
and economy subsequently went into decline. One of the most well-known
figures in its economic development was the banker and merchant Francesco
Datini, who invented the bill of exchange.
Although Prato is popularly known more for its economic importance than
for its architecture, there are in fact many culturally interesting
monuments in the city.
Places to visit: Emperor’s Castle, Impressive
construction built for Federico the Great in around 1250. It had remained
cut of, but successively was joined to the 1300s walls. In the 1700
it underwent several modifications. Has a large internal courtyard
used for manifestations. Piazza del Comune, king pin of
the city, has a particular L formation. In 1896 a statue of Francesco
di Marco Datini was placed there. The most important buildings face
onto it. Palazzo Comunale, 1200s construction, it was radically
remodelled in the 1700s. Some of the original construction has been
preserved. In the atrium the original fountain of Bacchino by
Ferdinando Tacca is preserved, and there are precious paintings preserved
in the interior of the palace. Palazzo Pretorio, positioned
opposite the Palazzo Comunale, it was constructed in two phases,.
The oldest conserves the tower house construction from the 1200s while
the other part was constructed in the 1300s. From 1912 it hosts the
Civic Museum, an important collection of works of art from
various eras. Palazzo Datini, acquired at the end of 1300s,
as residence of the famous banker Francesco Datini. It had the façade
delicately frescoed but now there are only a few fragments remaining.
The elegant interior host the precious Archivio Datini, with
the private and mercantile correspondence (from 1382 to 1410) of the
banker and a vast sample book of fabrics of the time. “Luigi
Pecci” Contemporary Art Centre, an important collection
of contemporary art donated to the Prato municipality by Enrico Pecci.
The centre also includes the Museum of Contemporary art.
Palazzo degli Alberti, erected in the 1400s on a preceding
structure and now the Seat of a Bank, where there is organised a collection
of art which can be visited by appointment. Palazzo of the
Roncioniana Library, erected in 1700s to contain the vast collection
of Marco Concioni, which today counts 75 thousand volumes and diverse
precious manuscripts and codex. Piazza del Duomo, of 1300s
origin, in 1800 a fountain and monument to Giuseppe Mazzoni were placed
there. Other than the Cathedral, the 1700s Palazzo Dragoni and Palazzo
Verri face onto it Cathedral, founded before the year one
thousand and built from 1211, it has the façade and the right
side of striped white and green marble, where the pulpit of Sacro
Cingolo by Donatello and Michelozzo from 1400 sticks out: on the
right side is the elegant 1200s bell tower. The three nave interior
of the Cathedral is divided with columns of green marble; the most
important chapel is that which holds the Sacro Cingolo (relic
of the Sacra Cintola donated to S. Tommaso by the Virgin Assunta),
finely frescoed by Agnolo Gaddi: while the Chapel Major shows frescoes
by Filippo Lippi. Precious vestments and other works of art beautify
the interior of the Cathedral. Museum of the Cathedral works,
in the Episcopal Palace, it conserves precious works of art by the
great artists, such as Donatello, Paulo Uccello, Filippo Lippi and
others. Santa Maria delle Carceri, church projected in
1485 by Giuliano da Sangallo, and an admirable example of Renaissance
architecture; it conserves precious terracotta by Andrea della Robbia.
It takes its name from the place which in precedence held the prison.
San Francesco, situated in the same name square, of 1200 origin,
it has white and green marble decorating the façade, with a
gothic style portico. The single nave interior and three Gothic chapels
at the base has been strongly impoverished by restoration works at
the beginning of the 1900s. San Domenico, is an important
Gothic style building characterised on the left side by a very high
mullioned window and a marble door; it is dominated by a 1300s bell
tower. The interior was remodelled in Baroque from in the middle of
the 1600s. The Chapter House is completely frescoed. |
Historical info reproduced upon authorization
of Regione Toscana - Dipartimento della Presidenza E Affari Legislativi
e Giuridici
Translated by Ann Mountford
Picture by Sandro Santioli |