Italy · 13th century
The Castello dell'Imperatore is a medieval fortress located in Prato, Italy. It is a castle with crenellated walls and towers. The castle was built for the medieval emperor and King of Sicily Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, on top of a previous fortification of which two towers remain.
When Frederick II died building was stopped and the interior was never finished. The castle is open to the public and although some destruction took place during the fascist regime, reconstruction work has begun and is ongoing. It is possible to climb the stairs up to the top of the castle walls and walkways for a bird's eye view over the surrounding city of Prato. It was built between 1237 and 1247 by Riccardo da Lentini.
Text adapted from “Castello dell'Imperatore” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castello dell'Imperatore ranks #2,845 of 9,035 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #222 of the 555 mapped in Italy. Founded 1240, it is older than 71% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 1090 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,595 times in the last 60 days, more than 63% of the atlas. Wikidata records about 50,000 visitors in 2022. 17 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Florence, 17 km away. It is one of the 42 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of Tuscany. See how Italy compares in the castle statistics.
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