Access to justice: How much is too much?

Conference venue

Monash University Prato Centre
The impressive Monash University Centre occupies the first floor of an elegant 18th century palace, Palazzo Vaj, in the historic centre of Prato, an ancient Tuscan city just 30 minutes from Florence, which is now famous for its textile manufacturing.

The culture of Prato
Prato is the third largest city in Tuscany with a population of around 180,000. In addition to being a short distance from Florence and other major art cities of the Tuscan region including Pistoria, Pisa, Lucca and Siena, Prato is a hidden gem that offers the tourist many historical and artistic attractions with a cultural itinerary that goes from Medieval times to Contemporary Art.

In the centre of the town, Prato offers a wealth of architectural heritage including the Emperor’s Castle (the only example of Swabian architecture in northern-central Italy, built by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II), the Cathedral with its revered relic of the Madonna’s sacred belt, Palazzo Pretorio, Datini’s house, the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Carceri by Giuliano da Sangallo, the medieval churches of St Francis, St Dominic, St Augustine as well as a number of patrician palaces.

These building and the city museums hold works of art by great masters such as Agnolo Gaddi, Paolo Uccello, Filippo and Filippino Lippi, Donatello, Michelozzo and other famous artistis of the 14th century and Renaissance.

Around Prato

The provincial countryside is full of pints of interest for tourists: the necropolis and Etruscan findings in Comeana and Artimino, the recent archaelogical excavation of Gonfienti, Romanesque churches scattered around Carmingnano, ancient Abbeys in the Bisenzio valley, medieval villages, the splendid Medici villas, “Ambra” at Poggio a Caiano and “Fernanda” at Artimino, the Quinto Martini Sculpture Park in Seano and the nature park in Mercatale di Vernio.

There is delightful hillside landscape of Montalbano, richly covered with vineyards and olive orchards, the impressive scenery of the massive karst formation known as the Calvana that overlooks the wooded spur of the right bank of the Bisenzio river, the Javello mount that descends as far as the Fortress in Montemurlo and Monteferrato.

Further information on Prato and the region.