← EcoMaratona Pratese·Day trip

Prato: A Flat Monday in the Textile Town

A compact walled town of wool merchants, with a striped cathedral, a fresco cycle by Filippo Lippi and streets flat enough for legs that have done four laps of gravel.

DurationDay trip
TransitTaxi, bus or a short train ride, about 15 to 30 min
DepartsCascine di Tavola

After the EcoMaratona Pratese: Prato

The Route: Cascine di Tavola → Prato → back Logistics: A taxi or a local bus to the centre, about 15 to 30 minutes depending on where you are staying. If you sleep in the town, you are already there. Monday timetables are thinner than weekday ones, so check the times. Marathon Month: October Duration: Day trip

Cascine di Tavola ──(taxi or bus, 15 to 30 min)──> Prato centre ──(walk)──> Duomo and the old walls

Prato makes cloth. It has done so since the Middle Ages, and the wool merchants who got rich on it built a walled town of brick and pale stone that is still mostly intact. Today it is also home to one of Italy's largest Chinese communities, so the streets outside the walls mix Tuscan bakeries with noodle shops, and a lunch here can go either way. The old centre is small, level and free of the crowds that fill Florence, 20 minutes down the line.

For a runner it has one great advantage. It is flat, and after a marathon that is the point.

October in Prato: daytime temperatures are usually 13 to 21 °C, cooler in the morning, with occasional rain. The light is soft and the streets are quiet. Shops close for a long lunch and many museums shut on Mondays, so check opening days before you set out.

The day

Start at the Duomo, a cathedral in green and white marble whose outer pulpit was carved by Donatello and Michelozzo to display the Virgin's belt, a relic shown to the crowd on a few days each year. The inside holds a fresco cycle by Filippo Lippi, painted in the mid-fifteenth century, on the lives of Saint Stephen and Saint John the Baptist. Check the hours, the ticket price and whether the cycle can be seen at the time you visit.

Walk to the Castello dell'Imperatore, a squat thirteenth-century fortress built for the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. The walls are open to walk along at certain hours and the level stretches are easy going. Check the days.

The Museo del Tessuto, the textile museum, tells the story of the trade that made the town. It is in a former factory, and it is both interesting and seated. Check its opening days.

The Centro Pecci, a contemporary art museum on the edge of town, is a long walk from the centre and better reached by taxi or bus. Check what is showing.

For lunch, try the local biscotti di Prato, hard almond biscuits served with a glass of sweet Vin Santo. Many trattorie close on Monday evenings, so ask your hotel to book.

Getting back

Trains and buses run back to the park area and on to Florence. If you are heading to the airport, Florence is the most direct route. Check the timetable and allow extra time.