Prato, Italy
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Prato, Italy
Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 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, obtaining around 2 billion euros from exports. 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 Donatell ...
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Cathedral Of Prato
Prato Cathedral, or Cathedral of Saint Stephen, ( it, 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. Origin The church of Saint Stephen was built in a green meadow (''Prato'') after an appearance of the Virgin Mary near the village of Borgo al Cornio (the present center of Prato). The first building was a small parish church. which the earliest document dates from AD 994. The expansion of the church began in the 15th century and transformed the modest building into one of the most lo ...
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Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralized authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—most recently part of the Eastern Ro ...
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Camars
Camars was an ancient Etruscan city, situated in the village of Gonfienti in the Prato municipality, Tuscany, Italy. The city was discovered during the course of modern excavation for the creation of the Prato Interport. The ancient site is also spread across the modern municipalities of Campi Bisenzio and Calenzano; the Poggio Castiglioni hill is the site of the upper citadel of the ancient city. Overview Excavation revealed substantial evidence for daily life. The site is connected to the Adriatic Sea by means of the Via Salaria which leaves the site en route to Adria. A substantial courtyard house has been compared to other examples of Etruscan house plans, for instance those of Marzabotto Marzabotto ( Medial Mountain Bolognese: ) is a small town and ''comune'' in Italian region Emilia-Romagna, part of the Metropolitan City of Bologna. It is located south-southwest of Bologna by rail, and lies in the valley of the Reno. The area inc .... References Cifani, G. 2008 ''Archit ...
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Textile Industry
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, the global yield was 25 million tons from 35 million hectares cultivated in more than 50 countries. There are five stages of cotton manufacturing: * Cultivating and Harvesting * Preparatory Processes * Spinning — giving yarn * Weaving — giving fabrics * Finishing — giving textiles Synthetic fibres Artificial fibres can be made by extruding a polymer, through a spinneret (polymers) into a medium where it hardens. Wet spinning (rayon) uses a coagulating medium. In dry spinning (acetate and triacetate), the polymer is contained in a solvent that evaporates in the heated exit chamber. In melt spinning (nylons and polyesters) the extruded polymer is cooled in gas or ...
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Wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As an animal fibre, wool consists of protein together with a small percentage of lipids. This makes it chemically quite distinct from cotton and other plant fibres, which are mainly cellulose. Characteristics Wool is produced by follicles which are small cells located in the skin. These follicles are located in the upper layer of the skin called the epidermis and push down into the second skin layer called the dermis as the wool fibers grow. Follicles can be classed as either primary or secondary follicles. Primary follicles produce three types of fiber: kemp, medullated fibers, and true wool fibers. Secondary follicles only produce true wool fibers. Medullated fibers share nearly identical characteristics to hair and are long but lack c ...
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Campi Bisenzio
Campi Bisenzio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence. History The word Campi in the municipality's name stems from the fields which are widespread in the lands around the town. The current name of Campi Bisenzio was assumed only in 1862, with the addition of the name of the Bisenzio river that runs through the town. Campi Bisenzio is the place where the internal combustion engine was built for the first time by Felice Matteucci and father Eugenio Barsanti. A number of Renaissance artworks from the church of Sant'Andrea a San Donnino are housed in its adjacent museum. The church of Santa Maria a Campi Bisenzio still maintains many of its original artworks. Twin towns * Coatbridge, Scotland, United Kingdom * Bir Lehlou, Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of t ...
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Gonfienti (Prato)
Gonfienti is a ''frazione'' (detached village) located in the suburbs of the town of Prato. The actor Giorgio Panariello lives here. Main sights *Remains of the Etruscan city of Camars Camars was an ancient Etruscan city, situated in the village of Gonfienti in the Prato municipality, Tuscany, Italy. The city was discovered during the course of modern excavation for the creation of the Prato Interport. The ancient site is also ... *San Martino church. Of ancient origin, it was rebuilt in the 13th century and renewed between the 18th and 19th century. Two altarpieces from the 15th and 16th century, realized by the school of Giovanni Balducci or Giovan Pietro Naldini, are preserved inside. *The Prato freight village, one of the biggest in Tuscany, is located in the surroundings of Gonfienti. From here it is possible to observe the Cemetery in the locality La Macine. *An old villa belonged to Novellucci family is located in Gonfienti. It is now under restorations. Prato ...
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Etruscan Civilization
The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, roughly what is now Tuscany, western Umbria, and northern Lazio, as well as what are now the Po Valley, Emilia-Romagna, south-eastern Lombardy, southern Veneto, and western Campania. The earliest evidence of a culture that is identifiably Etruscan dates from about 900BC. This is the period of the Iron Age Villanovan culture, considered to be the earliest phase of Etruscan civilization, which itself developed from the previous late Bronze Age Proto-Villanovan culture in the same region. Etruscan civilization endured until it was assimilated into Roman society. Assimilation began in the late 4thcenturyBC as a result of the Roman–Etruscan Wars; it accelerated with the grant of Roman citizenship in 90 BC, and became complete in 27 BC, when the Etr ...
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Paleolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehistoric technology. It extends from the earliest known use of stone tools by hominins,  3.3 million years ago, to the end of the Pleistocene,  11,650 cal BP. The Paleolithic Age in Europe preceded the Mesolithic Age, although the date of the transition varies geographically by several thousand years. During the Paleolithic Age, hominins grouped together in small societies such as bands and subsisted by gathering plants, fishing, and hunting or scavenging wild animals. The Paleolithic Age is characterized by the use of knapped stone tools, although at the time humans also used wood and bone tools. Other organic commodities were adapted for use as tools, includ ...
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Biscotti
Biscotti (; ; en, biscuits), known also as cantucci (), are Italian almond biscuits that originated in the Tuscan city of Prato. They are twice-baked, oblong-shaped, dry, crunchy, and may be dipped in a drink, traditionally Vin Santo. Name ''Cantuccio'' is an old Italian word that literally means "little place", "nook", or "corner" but that, in the past, was also used to indicate a little piece of bread with a lot of crust (usually the first and last slices of the loaf, the "corners"). The word ''biscotto'', used in modern Italian to refer to a biscuit (or cookie) of any kind, originates from the medieval Latin word ''biscoctus'', meaning "twice-cooked". It characterised oven-baked goods that were baked twice, so they became very dry and could be stored for long periods of time. Such non-perishable food was particularly useful during journeys and wars, and twice-baked breads were a staple food of the Roman legions. The word ''biscotto'', in this sense, shares its origin wit ...
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Cantucci
Biscotti (; ; en, biscuits), known also as cantucci (), are Italian almond biscuits that originated in the Tuscan city of Prato. They are twice-baked, oblong-shaped, dry, crunchy, and may be dipped in a drink, traditionally Vin Santo. Name ''Cantuccio'' is an old Italian word that literally means "little place", "nook", or "corner" but that, in the past, was also used to indicate a little piece of bread with a lot of crust (usually the first and last slices of the loaf, the "corners"). The word ''biscotto'', used in modern Italian to refer to a biscuit (or cookie) of any kind, originates from the medieval Latin word ''biscoctus'', meaning "twice-cooked". It characterised oven-baked goods that were baked twice, so they became very dry and could be stored for long periods of time. Such non-perishable food was particularly useful during journeys and wars, and twice-baked breads were a staple food of the Roman legions. The word ''biscotto'', in this sense, shares its origin wit ...
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Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelites who stimulated a reappraisal of his work. Since then, his paintings have been seen to represent the linear grace of late Italian Gothic and some Early Renaissance painting, even though they date from the latter half of the Italian Renaissance period. In addition to the mythological subjects for which he is best known today, Botticelli painted a wide range of religious subjects (including dozens of renditions of the ''Madonna and Child'', many in the round tondo shape) and also some portraits. His best-known works are ''The Birth of Venus'' and '' Primavera'', both in the Uffizi in Florence, which holds many of Botticelli’s works. Botticelli lived all his life in the same neighbourhood of Florence; his only signi ...
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