Textile Museum

Since 2003, the museum has occupied the restored spaces of the 'Cimatoria Campolmi Leopoldo e C.', a monument of industrial architecture covering 8,500 square meters. The factory, situated on the banks of the Bisenzio river, was originally a double-storey quadrilateral structure around a rectangular courtyard with a large water tank and a 40-meter high brick chimney at its center. The complex reached its current size in the mid-20th century through expansions, including the construction of beautiful vaulted arched dye-works, which now houses the entrance to the library. Textile production in the building ceased in 1994 before its conversion into a museum.

The museum's patrimony consists of heterogeneous assets including artistic, manufacturing, and industrial production items. The historic collections, displayed in the oldest part of the complex under controlled lighting for conservation, feature textiles and vestments from the 14th to the 19th centuries, as well as ethnic textiles and garments from Europe, Asia, and Africa. The holdings also include sample books, contemporary fabric samples, tools, machinery, and documentary materials. Notable industrial artifacts include the original machinery from the Campolmi mill, such as the steam-driven equipment housed in the former boiler room.

The Museo del Tessuto is distinguished on the European scene by its unique location within one of Italy's most important textile-clothing production districts, linking historical heritage with a living industrial reality. It represents the memory of Prato's textile production, tracing its origins from the 12th century through the industrialization of the mid-19th century and the post-war expansion that made the area a model industrial district. The institution plays a vital role in preserving the legacy of a city where the textile industry expanded contrary to European trends after World War II, adapting to new technologies and markets while maintaining its cultural roots.