Prato

Prato (ˈprɑːtoʊ , ˈpraːto) is a city and comune in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies north east of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana chain). With 195,213 inhabitants , 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. Timeline of Prato Archaeological findings have proved that Prato's surrounding hills were inhabited since Paleolithic times. The plain was later colonized by the Etruscans. In 1998 remains of a previously unknown city from that civilization were discovered in the neighbourhood of Gonfienti near Campi Bisenzio. It was of medium size and it was already a centre for the wool and textile industry. According to some scholars, it could be the mythical Camars. The Etruscan city was inhabited until the 5th century BC, when, for undisclosed reasons, it decayed; control of the area later shifted to the Romans, who had their Via Cassia pass through here, but did not build any settlement. In the early Middle Ages, the Byzantine and Lombard dominations prevailed in the region. The history of Prato itself begins from the 10th century, when two distinct villages, Borgo al Cornio and Castrum Prati (Prato's Castle), are known.