Santa Maria delle Carceri, Prato

Prato ( PRAH-toh, Italian: [ˈpraːto] ) is a city and 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 195,213 inhabitants as of 1 January 2023, Prato is Tuscany's second largest city (after Florence) and the third largest in Central Italy (after Rome and Florence). Historically, Prato's economy has been based on the textile industry and its district is the largest in Europe. The textile district of Prato is made up of about 7000 fashion companies, amounting to around 2 billion euros of city's export. The renowned Datini archives are a significant collection of late medieval documents concerning economic and trade history, produced between 1363 and 1410.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 famous cantucci, a type of biscotti invented in Prato during the Middle Ages, are still produced by local traditional bakers.

A castle with crenellated walls and towers. Built for the medieval emperor and King of Sicily Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, it was built in Prato, Italy on top of a previous fortification of which two towers remain. When Frederick II died building was stopped and the interior was never finished. The castle is open to the public and although some destruction took place during the fascist regime, reconstruction work has begun and is ongoing. It is possible to climb the stairs up to the top of the castle walls and walkways for a bird's eye view over the surrounding city of Prato.It was built between 1237 and 1247 by Riccardo da Lentini.

The Teatro Metastasio is a theatre located in Prato, Italy. Designed by architect Luigi De Cambray Digny, construction of the theatre began in March 1829. The inaugural performance of theatre was of Gioachino Rossini's Aureliano in Palmira on 8 October 1830. It remains the city of Prato's main venue for operas, plays, and concerts.

The Monash University Prato Centre (often known as Monash Prato) is a teaching and research centre in Tuscany. It is located in an 18th-century palace, the Palazzo Vaj (or Vai), in the historical centre of Prato. It was opened on 17 September 2001, as part of Monash University's internationalisation policy. It was established with the assistance of the local government of Prato, the region of Tuscany and prominent Italian-Australians Rino and Diana Grollo.The Centre aims to develop Australia's links with Europe, through research collaboration, seminars and conferences, and as a centre of study for Australian students.It is now the largest Australian institution of its kind in Europe. The Centre's patron is Sir James Gobbo, AC, an Australian jurist who was the first Governor of Victoria of Italian descent.

San Francesco is a Gothic-style, Roman Catholic church located in front of the square named after the church, in the historic center of Prato, region of Tuscany, Italy. San Francesco’s church, in the homonym square (XII–XIV sec.), it is located in the nucleus of the Oldest City of Prato and an Important Place of Catholic worship and one of the first Franciscan Churches with his big convent built on the ground that was donated by the municipality to the friars minor only eight days after the canonization of the saint, in 1228.

The Palazzo Pretorio is a historical building in Prato, Tuscany, Italy. It was the old city hall, standing in front of the current Palazzo Comunale. It now accommodates the Civic Museum of Prato, which was reopened in September 2013.

The Biblioteca Roncioniana is a public library, founded in 1726, and located on Piazza San Francesco #27 in the historic center of Prato, region of Tuscany, Italy. The library stands across the park from the church of San Francesco.

The Diocese of Prato (Latin: Dioecesis Pratensis) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Tuscany, that has existed as an independent entity since 1954. Its see is Prato Cathedral, some 10 miles (17 km) northwest of Florence, on the Bisenzio River. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Florence.

The province of Prato (Italian: provincia di Prato) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Prato. It was formed from part of the province of Florence in 1992. The province has an area of 365 square kilometres (141 sq mi) and a total population of about 250,000. There are seven municipalities (Italian: comuni) in the province.

The Stories of St. Stephen and St. John the Baptist is a fresco cycle by the Italian Renaissance painter Filippo Lippi and his assistants, executed between 1452 and 1465. It is located in the Great Chapel (Cappella Maggiore) of the Cathedral of Prato, Italy.

Prato Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Stephen, (Italian: Duomo di Prato; Cattedrale di San Stefano) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prato, Tuscany, Central Italy, from 1954 the seat of the Bishop of Prato, having been previously, from 1653, a cathedral in the Diocese of Pistoia and Prato. It is dedicated to Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr. It is one of the most ancient churches in the city, and was already in existence in the 10th century. It was built in several successive stages in the Romanesque style. The church contains a number of notable works of art, in particular fine sculpture.

The Girdle of Thomas, Virgin's Girdle, Holy Belt, or Sacra Cintola in modern Italian, is a Christian relic in the form of a "girdle" or knotted textile cord used as a belt, that according to a medieval legend was dropped by the Virgin Mary from the sky to Saint Thomas the Apostle at or around the time of the Assumption of Mary to Heaven. The supposed original girdle is a relic belonging to Prato Cathedral in Tuscany, Italy and its veneration has been regarded as especially helpful for pregnant women. The story was frequently depicted in the art of Florence and the whole of Tuscany, and the keeping and display of the relic at Prato generated commissions for several important artists of the early Italian Renaissance. The Prato relic has outlasted several rivals in Catholic hands, and is the Catholic equivalent of the various relics held by Eastern Christianity: the Cincture of the Theotokos of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Holy Girdle of the Syriac Orthodox Church.