Porta al Prato, Medieval city gate in Florence, Italy

Porta al Prato is a medieval city gate in Florence featuring an arched passageway and a defensive tower that rises above the old city walls. The structure shows features from different periods and served as a key entry point to the city.

Porta al Prato was built in 1285 as part of Florence's sixth circle of walls, together with the gates of San Gallo and alla Croce. Its design is attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio. In 1529 it was lowered and modified to make it less vulnerable to cannon fire, and the loggia with a pitched roof and weather vane was added. The walls were demolished when Florence was capital, isolating the gate in the square.

The name comes from the unpaved Prato di Ognissanti in front of the gate, not from the Tuscan city of Prato. That open ground hosted the weekly cattle market and, for three centuries, Florentine calcio matches. A marble plaque inside records the 1311 decree fixing the measurements of the walls, tower and defensive moat.

The gate stands in the middle of piazzale di Porta al Prato, where viale Fratelli Rosselli, via del Ponte alle Mosse and viale Belfiore meet. Tram line T1, running since 14 February 2010, links Firenze Porta al Prato station with Santa Maria Novella and Scandicci. The Leopolda exhibition centre and the Maggio Musicale theatre are nearby.

Until 1849 a section of the harbour chain of Pisa hung on the countryside side of the gate, a detail few visitors notice. The gate was also lowered in 1529 to make it less vulnerable to cannon fire, and its loggia roof was rebuilt in the early 1930s by the city's fine arts office.