The Emperor's Castle is located in Prato in Piazza delle Carceri. It is an example of Frederick-era architecture, built by order of Emperor Frederick II of Swabia, as part of the struggle for dominance in Tuscany between the empire and the papacy that characterized the decades around 1200. History and description
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The site of today's castle once housed the Alberti family's fort of Prato, which was almost completely razed to the ground in 1107 during the siege by Matilda of Canossa's troops. In its place, another palace, called "Palazzolo," was rebuilt to house the nuncios of Emperors Henry VI of Swabia and Otto IV of Brunswick (two towers remain, the ones without battlements, which until 1767-68 were about double their current height); The area surrounding the castle has always been strategic, so much so that documents dating back to 1035[2] attest to the presence of an older "palatium"; this building was the nucleus of the Castrum Prati, the village that arose above the palace, which also contained an ancient parish church (Santa Maria in Castello, which no longer exists).
The construction commission was entrusted by Frederick II to Riccardo da Lentini, probably starting in 1240. The castle, originally tangent to the second circle of walls (12th century), was partially surrounded by a moat and connected to the Albertian prisons, from whose definition "prisons" the nearby Marian sanctuary took its name. It has eight towers and, like Castel del Monte, has various symbolic aspects inherent in both its structure and its portal. Once completed, it was intended to be used as an important garrison for the empire, testifying to the emperor's presence in his northern possessions.
However, its construction was interrupted around 1250 due to the emperor's premature death, and the unfinished structure was subsequently used for many other purposes. During the 14th century, under Florentine rule, the castle was connected to the third ring of walls by a covered corridor called the "Corridore del Cassero" (meaning: castle corridor), or simply the Cassero. This allowed Florentine troops to safely enter the city from outside the walls using a protected passage.
Over the centuries, several houses were built inside and around the structure. In the 1930s, under Fascist rule, all the houses were demolished, and the castle assumed its current appearance, consisting essentially of only the exterior walls. The simultaneous opening of Viale Piave also led to the demolition of much of the Cassero structure, of which two sections remain.
Also interesting, behind the castle itself, are the remains of the hospital and the corresponding church of San Giovanni Gerosolimitano (or of the Knights of Malta), built outside the walls in the mid-12th century and currently abandoned, but which still preserves small and rare anthropomorphic traces in Romanesque terracotta.
Il castello dell'Imperatore si trova a Prato in piazza delle Carceri. È un esempio di architettura federiciana, costruita cioè per ordine dell'imperatore Federico II di Svevia, nell'ambito della lotta per il predominio in Toscana tra l'impero e il papato che caratterizzò i decenni a cavallo del 1200.Storia e descrizione
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Sul luogo dove si trova l'odierno castello sorgeva anticamente il forte degli Alberti di Prato, che venne quasi completamente raso al suolo nel 1107 durante l'assedio delle truppe di Matilde di Canossa; al suo posto un altro palazzo, detto "Palazzolo", venne ricostruito per ospitare i nunzi degli imperatori Arrigo VI di Svevia e Ottone IV di Brunswick (del quale restano due torri, quelle prive di merli, che fino al 1767-68 avevano circa il doppio dell'attuale altezza); l'area interessata dal Castello era da sempre strategica, tanto che esistono documenti fino dal 1035[2] che testimoniano la presenza di un più antico "palatium"; questa costruzione era il nucleo del Castrum Prati, il borgo che sorgeva a monte del palazzo che possedeva anche un'antica pieve (Santa Maria in Castello, oggi non più esistente).
L'incarico della costruzione venne dato da Feder