Tourist attractions Prato

The main focus of interest in Florence’s Carmelite church (damaged by fire in the 18C) is an extraordinary series of frescoes decorating the walls of the Brancacci Chapel, situated at the end of the south transept (which luckily survived the fire)...

Begun by Brunelleschi in 1420 close to the Palazzo Medici (this was the illustrious family’s parish church and place of burial). Inside, the architect’s break from Gothic tradition and inauguration of the classic Florentine Renaissance style can be s..

At the heart of the city, the duomo together with the campanile and the baptistry form an extraordinary white, green and pink marble ensemble, bearing witness to the evolution of Florentine art from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Built in ..

“My handsome St John”: such were the words of Dante in describing the baptistry dedicated to St John the Baptist, patron saint of the city. During the Middle Ages St John the Baptist's image featured on the famous gold florin coin. Clad in sombre whi..

Standing 82m high, Giotto’s slender bell tower illustrates the originality of Florentine Gothic and the significance given to horizontal lines and geometric decoration. While the plans and decorative scheme were Giotto’s work, it fell to Andrea Pisan..

The Romanesque church of St Reparata (the substructure, built on Paleo-Christian vestiges, can be seen in the Duomo crypt) was deemed too modest for such an important city as Florence. Consequently, work on a cathedral began in 1296 to plans by Arno..

The best way of discovering Tuscany, renowned for its beautiful light and landscape, is the road from Florence to Fiesole. It skirts hillsides covered in olive groves, cypresses and terraced gardens as each bend in the road reveals yet another incomp..

Located in the heart of the Palazzo Pitti, the Galleria Palatina houses an extraordinary array of 16C-18C paintings including a fine collection of works by Raphael (the Veiled Lady , the Madonna of the Grand Duke , the Madonna della Seggiola )..

A fine example of medieval architecture, the 13C Palazzo del Podestà has a remarkable courtyard, one of Italy’s finest with a striking décor in the form of the coats of arms belonging to Florence’s senior magistrates (whose residence this was). It ..

This is one of the world’s greatest museums. Its collections trace the evolution of Italian painting from the earliest days to the 17C. The museum is located in the old Uffizi palace, the seat of Medici Florence’s bureaucrats. Built by Vasari in 15..

Topped by a fine 94m-high bell tower, this huge building dominates its square. Built between 1299 and 1315 to designs by Arnolfo de Cambio, this uncompromising Gothic structure was initially seat of the Signoria. It became Cosimo I’s residence in the..

The best surviving example of a quintessential Tuscan villa, Villa Medicea “Ambra” was built in 1479 and altered in the 18C-19C (pediment and staircase). Many rooms were decorated in the 19C for King Vittorio Emanuele II. Note the unusual coffered ce..

This vast square is seductive both for the harmony of its proportions and for the variety of its buildings, both civic and religious. The cathedral that is in front of its baptistry , the old Episcopal palace, the Palazzo Communale, which is linke..

This chapterhouse is covered with frescoes by Andrea Buonaiuto hailing the glory of the Dominicans (1365-1367). Comprising a series of allegorical figures and scenes, the frescoes were intended to be educational. On the left-hand wall the Triumph of ..

Comprising of the New Sacristy and the Capella dei Principi (Princes’ Chapel), this was a project of Cosimo I but was not built until the 17C. The funerary chapel of the grand dukes, the Capella dei Principi is striking for its sheer scale and its so..

Allied to the Medici and Strozzi dynasties, the Rucellai family owed their very name and fortune to the imporation of lichen (called oricella) which was an effective red dye. Their emblem, a sail billowing in the wind, symbolises maritime trade and f..

Founded by Cosimo the Elder, this library was extended by Lorenzo il Magnifico. The entrance is through an entrance on the left side in the church of San Lorenzo or through the delightful 15C cloisters (entrance to the left of the church). Its en..

The convent was built for the Dominicans in the 15C by Michelozzo, on the orders of Cosimo the Elder. It has works by Fra Angelico (note the Annunciation gracing the staircase), who decorated each cell with a fresco. While the artist certainly ..

In 1444, Michelozzo was commissioned by Cosimo the Elder to build this palace, which was to form the backdrop for the brilliant humanist court of his grandson Lorenzo il Magnifico. The building’s exterior gives little indication as to the splendour w..

The Accademia is remarkable for its collection of sculpture by Michelangelo : four slaves intended to embellish the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome, a Pietà known as La Palestrina (an early work) and, beneath a cupola, his great David , create..