What to see in Carrara, attractions and interesting places to visit, main monuments and churches with a tourist itinerary to go on foot in the historic center of the Tuscan town.
Tourist information
City of Tuscany, Carrara is located between the coast and the extreme offshoots of the Apuan Alps, famous for their highly prized white marble, whose extraction and processing has made this city famous.
The historic center, surrounded by beautiful mountains, develops just higher than the modern part, which extends towards the sea.
The city has a very ancient history, the first settlements date back to the 9th century BC, when the area was inhabited by the people of the Ligurian-Apuani.
Under Roman domination, which established itself around 180 BC, the extraction of marble began, although it is not certain that it was the Romans who discovered its deposits.
However, it was during the Roman era that this activity took on considerable importance.
Splendid monuments of ancient Rome were built with this precious material, which was brought there by sea through the nearby port of Luni.
The oldest part of Carrara corresponds precisely to the first nuclei inhabited by quarrymen.
After the Roman era, at least until the eleventh century, mining was of little importance, only towards the end of the thirteenth century there was a resumption of excavation, but always with manual technique, as the Romans used to do.
In the eighteenth century, explosives were used in the quarry, until a specific plant for cutting marble came into use, which has evolved over time.
The appearance of the historic center of Carrara, characterized by refined white marble architecture and evocative urban views of the medieval era, was defined in the times of Alberico Cybo Malaspina, prince of Massa and marquis of Carrara, in the mid-sixteenth century.
Recommended readings- Artimino (Tuscany): what to see
- San Galgano (Tuscany): what to see
- Poggibonsi (Tuscany): what to see
- Castiglione di Garfagnana (Tuscany): what to see
- Tuscany: Sunday day trips
What see
Cathedral
The Cathedral of Sant'Andrea is a splendid Romanesque-Gothic building (XI-XIV century), entirely covered with white and gray band marbles, adorned with a finely sculpted Romanesque portal and surmounted by a refined Gothic rose window. The beautiful bell tower is from the second half of the thirteenth century, the interior preserves a precious painted cross from the fourteenth century, as well as beautiful marble sculptures.
Alberica square
It was built in the seventeenth century by Alberico Cybo Malaspina, close to the urban walls he had built. Noble palaces dating back to that period overlook it, the pavement is inlaid with the precious marble of the Apuan Alps, in the middle stands the statue of Maria Beatrice d'Este: it is the most beautiful square in Carrara.
Academy of Fine Arts
It is located in the Renaissance palace which was the residence of the Cybo Malaspina, in Piazza Mazzini. It is a sixteenth-century building, enlarged in the following centuries, which stands on a previous medieval castle. The palace was donated in 1805 by Elisa Baciocchi, sister of Napoleon and Grand Duchess of Tuscany, to the Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1769 by Maria Teresa Cybo Malaspina.
In the courtyard there is a precious collection of Roman, medieval and modern sculptures, including the aedicula of the Fantiscritti, a Roman bas-relief dated 203-212 AD, found in the quarry of the same name where three figures were carved, which the quarrymen began to call "Fanti", that is young boys, in reality they are the representations of Jupiter, Hercules and Bacchus. Many visitors impressed the sign of their passage on that marble, leaving their names engraved on it, among them there are signatures of famous people such as Giambologna, Canova and others. The entire quarry took its name from this newsstand.
Civic museum of marble
It is an exhibition structure located in Stadio, Viale XX Settembre, made up of various sections concerning the production and processing of marble in the Apuan Alps.
