CARMIGNANO
Museo Archeologico Comunale di Artimino
Originally housed in the underground rooms of the Medicean villa "La Ferdinanda", the museum illustrates the history of the town of Artimino through a collection of Etruscan finds concerning both everyday life and the world of the dead that have been brought to light in the necropolis of Prato Rosello and Comeana and in the Etruscan settlements of Artimino and Pietramarina.
Museo della Vite e del Vino
Carmignano Museum of Grapes and Wine is housed in the former cellars of the Niccolini winery and exhibits ancient agricultural implements and tools, photos and drawings, as well as the Melis wine collection: over 800 bottles of wine from all over the world. The museum organises also wine tastings and wine tasting courses.
Parco Museo Quinto Martini
Surrounded by the hills of Montalbano, the park designed by architect Chelazzi illustrates the evolution of the artistic career of the Tuscan sculptor Quinto Martini through 36 works in cast bronze produced between 1931 and 1987.
Villa Medicea "La Ferdinanda"
The roof of the imposing building Grand Duke Ferdinand I de` Medici commissioned from Bernardo Buontalenti is decorated with a series of chimneys of various shapes; for this reason, the Medicean villa "La Ferdinanda" is known also with the name of "Villa of the One Hundred Chimneys". In the past the walls of the so-called hall of the villas were decorated with the lunettes by Giusto Utens depicting the Medici residences. In August 1608, Ferdinand I invited Galileo Galilei to stay at the villa and teach mathematics to his son. The villa was also the theatre of various experiments by the Accademia del Cimento.
Zona Archeologica di Comeana
The Montefortini tumulus is a funerary complex dating from the Etruscan Orientalizing period (7th century BC) composed of two tombs belonging to two important families, as attested by the rich funeral gifts unearthed during excavation.
POGGIO A CAIANO
Villa Medicea "Ambra"
A masterpiece of Renaissance architecture, the villa was designed by Giuliano da Sangallo for Lorenzo the Magnificent, who purchased the estate in 1479. Inside what in the course of the centuries was the country residence of the Medici, Lorraine and Savoy are frescoes by Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo and Alessandro Allori, as well as a terracotta frieze attributed to Andrea Sansovino. The estate, which was faithfully portrayed in one of the lunettes by Giusto Utens, included also a farm with cultivated fields, orchards, woods, a secret Italian garden and a hunting reserve. In the second half of the 16th century Bernardo Buontalenti made some modifications to the fortified enclosure, whereas in the 19th century winding walkways and lawns with curvilinear borders replaced the original orthogonal structure of the park. In that very period, a lemon-house was built and the rectilinear stairs designed by Sangallo were replaced with a semicircular staircase.
PRATO
Centro per l`Arte Contemporanea "Luigi Pecci"
The Centre for Contemporary Art "Luigi Pecci" is the main museum for contemporary art in Tuscany and one of the most important in Italy and in Europe. The museum, commissioned by Prato industrialist Enrico Pecci from architect Italo Gamberini in memory of his son Luigi, has a notable collection of works by the most important Italian and foreign artists of the last thirty years. The Centre, which organises also temporary exhibitions, includes an information and documentation centre and a specialized library.
Castello dell`Imperatore e Cassero Medievale
Built around the mid-13th century by the Sicilian architect Riccardo da Lentini by order of Frederick II of Swabia, the castle is a monument unique in its genre in central-northern Italy. The building with a square plan and four angular towers is reminiscent of many examples of Swabian military architecture in southern Italy. The works for the building of the castle were interrupted at the death of Frederick II in 1250, and the long covered two-level walkway called cassero was built only in the 14th century to connect the castle to the Porta Fiorentina defence system. The imposing building in white alberese limestone presents an entry portal in green and white marble, the only concession to Tuscan architectural tradition.
Centro di Scienze Naturali di Galceti
Galceti Natural Science Centre includes a natural history museum, an environmental park situated in the protected area of Monteferrato and an archaeological site. The natural history museum has interesting fossil, mineral and animal collections and a herbarium with species native to the area. In the nature reserve sick or injured animals are treated and prepared for return to the wild. The Centre has also a rainfall monitoring station, a forest fire-fighting station, a specialised newspaper library, a library and a planetarium. The Centre carries out many educational activities in the fields of environmental protection and eco-tourism.
Duomo di Prato
Mentioned for the first time in a document dated 994, Prato cathedral is a serpentine and alberese limestone building. The building of the imposing bell tower began in the 13th century and was completed in 1356. The cathedral houses a famous pulpit by Donatello, sculptures by Giovanni Pisano and Giovanni and Benedetto da Maiano and fresco cycles by Filippo Lippi, Agnolo Gaddi and Paolo Uccello. The façade features a clock in the place of the usual rose window: built around the mid-15th century, the original clock was then replaced by the one still visible today, which was created in 1795. On the right wall of the cathedral is a vertical sundial.
Galleria di Palazzo degli Alberti
The art gallery housed in the 15th-century Palazzo degli Alberti exhibits paintings on wood from the 15th and 16th centuries, works by the 17th-century Tuscan school and a collection of Neoclassical sculptures by the Prato-born artist Lorenzo Bartolini.
Museo Civico
Created in 1788 by Grand Duke Peter Leopold of Lorraine, Prato Civic Museum was opened to the public only in 1858; since 1912 it has been located in Palazzo Pretorio. On display are a series of paintings by Giotto school and from the Renaissance, a collection of 17th- and 18th-century works, sculptures by Lorenzo Bartolini, Della Robbia sculptural works, 18th-century ceramics, weapons from the Risorgimento and a collection of 18th-century majolica jars produced by the Ginori Manufactory of Doccia, painted boxes labelled with the names of pharmaceuticals and some glass recipients coming from the pharmacy of the Spedale della Misericordia e Dolce.
Museo del Tessuto
The Textile Museum is housed in the former Cimatoria Campolmi, a textile factory founded in the 19th century, and documents the evolution of textile industry. The exhibition sequence is divided into various sections. The one devoted to weaving tools includes about 100 exhibits from the 18th to the 20th century; antique fabrics from the 3rd to the 19th century coming from all over the world are displayed in the historical section, whereas the contemporary collection includes fabrics and samples of Prato textile industry from the late 19th century to the present days. The museum library has rare editions and anastatic prints.
Museo dell`Opera del Duomo
The museum housed in the 18th-century Palazzo Vescovile exhibits works from Prato cathedral and items relating to the cult of the Sacra Cintola, the belt that, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary gave to Saint Thomas during the Assumption. Of particular interest are the relief work on the pulpit by Donatello and paintings by Paolo Uccello, Filippo and Filippino Lippi.
Museo della Deportazione
The museum located in Figline di Prato and designed as a Nazi concentration camp is a tribute to the citizens of Prato and the millions of people deported by Nazis. Utensils and clothing worn by the deportees are accompanied by the accounts of the survivors, photos and excerpts from the books by Primo Levi.
Museo della Pieve di San Pietro Apostolo
The museum housed in the rooms adjoining the parish church of San Pietro Apostolo exhibits antique sacred furnishings, archaeological finds unearthed in the area, a small collection of paintings and some 14th-century pottery.
Museo di Pittura Murale
The museum displays detached frescoes, sinopias and a collection of 15th-century graffiti depicting mythological subjects, sacred furnishings and hangings, votive tablets and ex-votos. Particularly interesting are the sinopias from the cathedral attributed to Paolo Uccello and some paintings by Agnolo Gaddi and Niccolò Gerini.
VAIANO
Museo della Badia di San Salvatore
The museum housed in the refectory and abbot's apartment illustrates the life of the Vallombrosan Benedictine monks and documents the role they played in the religious, social and economic life of the local community. The visit includes also the church, the bell tower and the cloister.