Which city can boast a medieval castle in the historic center? Prato, of course!

And the castle of the great emperor Frederick II of Swabia (1194-1250), nephew of Red Beard, is undoubtedly one of the symbols of the city. It is also the only example of Swabian architecture in central-northern Italy. It was built by the emperor's architect, the Sicilian Riccardo da Lentini, between 1237 and 1248.

Frederick II, known as the "Stupor of the World", never arrived in Prato, but the fortress was inhabited by his vicar in Tuscany, responsible for guarding the road that connected the Holy Roman Empire with southern Italy and Sicily through the Apennine pass of Montepiano and the Bisenzio Valley.

In the 14th century the Florentine government transformed the building into a military garrison and prison, connecting it to the walls through a covered walkway: the Cassero.

The castle has a square plan enhanced at the corners by towers, also square. The white structure in alberese marble is crowned by a Ghibelline "swallow-tail" battlement restored in 1933. Imperial symbols are the Swabian lions carved on the sides of the access portal, in serpentine, commonly known as green Prato marble, and alberese.

From the inside there is access to the large courtyard. An internal staircase allows you to reach the upper walkway which runs along three sides of the perimeter. The panorama offered to visitors from here is magnificent: of the city monuments, the hills and the entire surrounding plain!

Inside the towers there are works by the contemporary artist Salvatore Cipolla which symbolically recall the era of Frederick II.

In summer the castle also becomes a place for events: festivals, concerts and above all the traditional cinema under the stars, highly appreciated for the magic that the projections take on in such an evocative location.