"It is characteristically homogeneous, with a background color ranging from white to pearl white, bright grains and smoke-gray veins that go irregularly along the stone."
It is one of the many descriptions of Carrara marble, that noble stone that for more than 2,000 years has been preferred in much of the world for so many works, from simple kitchen countertops to stairs of great palaces or sublime works of great creators, such as La Piedad or El David, by Michelangelo.
The most famous marble in the world is undoubtedly that of Carrara, a city in northwestern Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Massa e Carrara, nestled between the sea and the mountains: the Apuan Alps, where the quarries of the most appreciated marble in the world are located for its whiteness, the almost total absence of veins and its grain of fine floury appearance.
Marble blocks. Photo Shutterstock
In the heart of marble
It is believed that since the Bronze Age the inhabitants of the area used the marble of these mountains to make utensils and decorative and commemorative objects.
Although it was in times of the Roman Empire when extraction began to develop more systematically.
Emperor Augustus, in the first century BC, ordered a group of slaves to start extracting marble to cover elegant residences and public monuments, and in the time of Julius Caesar (48-44 BC), this white stone was used in different constructions of Rome.
Visit to the quarry area. Photo Shutterstock
For example, the Pantheon of Agrippa and Trajan's Column are made with blocks of Carrara marble, which traveled more than 400 km by sea from the port of Luni, near Carrara, to the heart of the empire.
And it was in these quarries of northwestern Italy where Michelangelo found the material that he knew how to work like no one else, to the point of turning it into silk in the folds of La Piedad, or into human skin and veins in the incomparable David.
That is why one of the must-see tours in the area is, of course, to the quarries of the precious "white gold", which are very close to the city. It can be reached in your own vehicle or aboard 4x4 vehicles, climbing steep zigzag ramps in the middle of the lunar landscape created by the white quarries between mountains.
The quarries are in the Apuan Alps. Photo Shutterstock
On the way you can pass by places like Bedrock, a studio with works by different artists in the middle of the quarries, or Carrara Home Design, which sells accessories and home decoration made with this unique material.
A recommended visit is to the cellar-museum Fantiscritti, where you can take a guided tour of one of the caves from which marble is extracted. You enter about 500 meters in the heart of the mountain with guides who tell about the discovery of the place, explain how the marble is cut and how the whole process is until the material comes out ready to become sculpture, furniture, decoration of some façade, etc.
There is also an open-air museum where you see ancient working tools and know about the history of extraction since the time of the empire.
In fact, it is not an extraction quarry, but a testimony that describes the work in the quarries and the condition of the workers, with life-size sculptures that represent the ancient trade of stonemason and show how the workers and their families lived -through the reproduction of a typical dwelling-, in a journey through thousands of years of work.
Carrara, Italy. Shutterstock
It is that the Fantiscritti quarries were already known in Roman times: in fact, its name comes from a bas-relief of the third century that was found in the place, which represents three divinities (fanti) with inscriptions (scritti) at the bottom.
From an ancient path to a marble-aged salami
Also long-standing is the Miseglia Antica Via Fantiscritti, a trail to reach the quarries on foot, enjoying the spectacular scenery that unfolds at the foot of the mountain.
There are tours (about 80 euros per person) from Carrara train station that last three hours and even visit the quarry where Michelangelo personally chose the marble blocks.
Beautiful mountain landscapes. Photo Shutterstock
In the area you can visit villages such as Bedizzano or Colonnata, where a traditional lardo has always been made, a pork sausage that adds the added value that it is cured for at least six months in basins of ... Carrara marble!, with a characteristic bathtub shape and battered with various spices. Quite a local delight.
The city at the foot of the mountains
In Carrara it is worth seeing the old city center, starting with the Collegiate Church of St. Andrew, then converted into a Cathedral, with its spectacular façade completely covered with white marble and parts of black marble from Colonnata. It is in the heart of the city: Piazza Duomo.
Another unmissable visit is the Malaspina Castle, a fortress that represented the independence of the city from the power of the bishops of Luni and since 1805 is a stately residence, headquarters of the Academy of Fine Arts.
In Carrara, the visit can start with the old city center. Photo Shutterstock
Also in the historic center you have to pass by two churches: the sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Gracia, a church built between 1620 and 1660 in Baroque-Rococo style, and the Church of Carmine, with a façade that sports a sculpture of the Blessed Virgin of the Rose made by the Spanish artist Bartolomeo Ordóñez.
And, of course, one cannot leave without visiting the Civic Marble Museum, with an exhibition divided into six internal sections and an external space that offer a complex and fascinating image of the local heritage, from Roman archaeology and the history of the territory to the most innovative techniques of modern marble sculpture.
MINI-GUIDE
How to get there
• To Rome by Airlines, from $ 961.482 round trip. By ITA Airways, US$ 1,944.
• From Rome to Carrara by train (3h 40' to 5h, with change in Pisa), from 27.85 euros.
Where to stay In the area there is a great offer, from hostels and pensions to
4 star hotels. In the Bed & breakfast L'Canton, in Colonnata, from 70 euros the double room; at the Michelagnelo hotel (4 stars), in Carrara, from 170 euros with breakfast.
Where to find out
• www.visitacarrara.it/pagina2338_carrara-turismo.html
• www.visittuscany.com/es/localidades/carrara/
See also