Getting There
By Train -- Prato is on the Florence-Lucca-Viareggio and the Florence-Bologna lines, with more than 50 trains daily from Florence (about 30 min.). All trains stop at Prato Centrale station, a 10-minute walk southeast from the center, but only the former line stops at the Prato Porta Serraglio station, outside the gate just a few blocks north of the Duomo. For train information, call tel. 0574-26-617 or 0574-28-398.
By Car -- If you're taking the A11 from Florence or Pistoia, Prato Est is the exit you want. The best place to park is on Piazza Mercatale (free parking along the edges, payment by the hour in the central lot).
By Bus -- Lazzi and CAP buses make the trip from Florence in about 30 minutes. The half-hourly CAP buses from Florence drop you off at the train station (tel. 0574-608-218 in Prato; 055-214-637 in Florence at Largo F.lli Alinari 11; www.capautolinee.it). Lazzi buses (tel. 055-215-1558 in Florence; www.lazzi.it) from Florence, Pistoia, Lucca, Pisa, and Siena terminate in Prato at Piazza San Francesco.
Visitor Information
The well-stocked and helpful tourist office (tel./fax 0574-24-112; Mon-Sat 9am-1:30pm and 4-6:30pm [until 6pm Sat]), is at Piazza Santa Maria delle Carceri 15. The monthly events calendar, available here and at many hotels and restaurants, is called Pratomese. Additionally, Prato's tourism website (www.prato.turismo.toscana.it) features an event search by date, so you can learn what's happening during your visit -- or plan your trip around a particular festival.
Festivals & Markets
The town's main event is the display of the Virgin's girdle, which is done five times yearly -- Easter, May 1, August 15, September 8, and December 25. This girdle is actually Mary's belt, which she removed and passed down to that ever-doubting St. Thomas whilst she was being Assumed into Heaven (rather than have Mary suffer the pain and indignity of mortal death, God decided to Assume her, or lift her bodily, up into the afterlife right at the point of her death; Thomas, as usual, didn't believe his eyes, and Mary did this to convince him it was really her rising into the sky -- you'll see the moment captured in paint, marble, and inlaid wood all over town).
The holy artifact, which was passed down to generations of Thomas's family, came to Prato at the time of the Crusades, when a local boy fighting in the Holy Land married Thomas' descendent and got the girdle as part of her dowry. The strip of dark green cloth is now preserved in a glass and gilt case which is kept inside nesting boxes within its own chapel in the Duomo under a series of locks that only keys kept by the bishop, mayor, and local chief of carabinieri can open, which they do with much pomp and Renaissance-style ceremony during the five yearly High Masses to celebrate the relic. The prelate, amid swirling incense and chanting, shows the girdle three times each to the parishioners inside the church and to the crowds massed on the piazza outside (there's a special exterior pulpit solely for this purpose), the faithful chosen to be so blessed line up to kneel and kiss the case with the girdle in it, and the relic is then locked away until the next celebratory mass. A costumed parade with lots of drumming and fifing then follows. The best, most Byzantine celebrations are held for the Christmas viewing.
The Festa degli Omaggi is a costumed historical pageant held on September 8. The renowned Teatro Metastasio's season runs October through April, and the main market is held on Mondays at the Mercato Nuovo.
