Prato

Prato is a city in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato.

Historically, the economy of Prato has been based upon the textile industry. The renowned Datini archives are a siginifcant archive of early medieval documents produced years between 1363 and 1410. The Textile Museum also reflects this history.

Prato is also a centre of the slow food movement, with many other local specialities, including cantucci, a type of biscotti, sold by local speciality bakers.

Since the late 1950s, the city has been a target of a great immigration, first from southern Italy, then other nationalities. Since the late 1980s a large Chinese community has settled in the city.

Culturally, Prato is rich, with many museums and other cultural monuments, including the Filippo Lippi frescoes in the Cathedral of St Stephano, currently under restoration. The Cathedral has an external pulpit by Donatello.

Prato is also the home of the Monash University Centre. The Centreis now the largest Australian academic institution of its kind in Europe, providing a strong link between Australian scholars, students, and their European counterparts, as well as providing English-language training. The centre hosts many international conferences in its heritage-listed building.

Fractions

Borgonuovo, Cafaggio, Canneto, Capezzana, Casale, Castelnuovo, Chiesanuova, Coiano, Figline di Prato, Filettole, Fontanelle, Galcetello, Galceti, Galciana, Gonfienti, Grignano, I Ciliani, I Lecci, Il Cantiere, Il Guado, Il Soccorso, Iolo, La Castellina, La Conca, La Dogaia, La Macine, La Pietà, La Querce, Le Badie, Le Caserane, Le Fonti, Le Fornaci, Maliseti, Mazzone, Mezzana, Narnali, Paperino, Pizzidimonte, Reggiana, San Giorgio a Colonica, San Giusto, San Paolo, Santa Cristina a Pimonte, Santa Lucia, Santa Maria a Colonica, Sant'Andrea, Sant'Ippolito, Tavola, Tobbiana, Viaccia, Vergaio.

Born in Prato

• Jury Chechi (October 11, 1969), Italian gymnast
• Roberto Benigni actor and director

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Prato".