Every design for Carrara

Carrara's name most likely goes back to a pre-Roman word for stone, by way of the Latin for quarries, and the town has lived up to it ever since. It grew from a settlement built for the workers of the marble quarries the Romans opened after conquering Liguria, and its marble left for the world from the old harbour of Luni. In the Middle Ages it passed from the Bishops of Luni to Pisa, Lucca, Florence and the Visconti; for centuries it shared the Duchy of Massa and Carrara with Massa; and at the end of the nineteenth century its quarry workers made it the cradle of Italian anarchism.

The town climbs from the beaches of Marina di Carrara on the Ligurian Sea to the foot of the Apuan Alps, the last town in Tuscany before Liguria, with the Carrione running through it. Above the old centre the quarry basins of Torano, Miseglia and Colonnata frame everything in white. The Museo Civico del Marmo and the Monumento dedicato ai Caduti del Marmo tell the story of the work and its cost; the Fontana del gigante and CARMI - Villa Fabbricotti belong to the town below.

Growing up here means the quarries shining above the rooftops in every season. The map holds the river, the streets and the long climb towards the marble.