A large public park at the feet of the Montalbano hills, the Cascine di Tavola cover the area south of Prato, just behind the industrial zone, skirting the park of the Medici villa of Poggio a Caiano. The origins of this enormous green expanse are found in the fifteenth century, when the young Lorenzo de’ Medici undertook an intense campaign of purchases and land investments in the area. The aim was to create an extended unitary complex next to the village, consisting of a large farming estate, the Cascine, and areas for fun and delight. The farm has a quadrangular layout and extends around a vast internal courtyard. It is surrounded by a deep moat and high walls, which take the form of bastions at the four summits and form four small angular towers, like a small castle. The structure, derived from the treatise De Architectura by Vitruvio, was the work of Giuliano da Sangallo, or according to other works by Giuliano da Maiano. Today the park of the Cascine di Tavola, strongly desired by Prato Town Council, offers itself as a great place for thousands of people to do sport (you can also get there along a long cycle path that connects the north and south of the province), walk and appreciate the striking landscape that is still intact. There are two different types of attractions in the park: the golf club Le Pavoniere (an 18-hole green among ponds) and the Taste Education Centre, promoted by Slow Food of Prato.(Portions of this article first appeared in "Toscana & Chianti News")
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