Prato - is Merchant of Prato's house open?

[scrittore]

Hello,
I've looked on a number of sites for Prato, but haven't been able to find out if the house of the Merchant of Prato is actually open to the public as a museum?
Does anyone know?
Thanks

[Cristina]

Ciao scrittore,

I found some information on the Palazzo Datini, which is where the rich Merchant of Prato Francesco Datini lived, but nothing clear about visiting it (it houses State Archives now), so I contacted the official tourism board of Prato to request further information. This is what I got:

The Palace is open to the public:
from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 pm and from 3:00 p.m to 6:00 p.m , Monday through Friday
from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 pm on Saturday.

Closed on Sunday and festivities.

On August the palace is open only in the mornings.

Entrance to Palazzo Datini is free.


Hope this information is useful!

[scrittore]

Cristina,
Thank you for going the extra mile ( or kilometre, assuming you are in Italia). I think you qualify as "super sleuth."
I don't know if you have any interest in late medieval things, but Iris Origo's book (non-fiction) "The Merchant of Prato" is full of details of daily life and of the character of Datini himself who was a bit eccentric in some ways. I'm really looking forward to seeing his house. His huge archive is there, but I'm not sure what else.
Grazie mille.