Marble was already well known in the Roman age, in the III century BC, even if the marble industry truly and fully developed during the period of the Medici, a period in which the marble extracted from the Carrara quarries was used to make more precious the architectonic constructions in Florence.

From the Carrara quarries one of the most precious qualities of marble is extracted: statue marble. Sculptors and architects chose the most suitable pieces to make their works, like Michelangelo. The Arezzo artists was of the opinion that the shape of the statue already existed, enclosed, as though imprisoned, in the block of marble. It was his duty to liberate it from the excess stone.

And it was Michelangelo who spent three years of his life in Versilia to follow the workings of the works that were commissioned to him by the Medici family, in fact it is still existent and active the Cava di Michelangelo from which he extracted the marble of so many sculptural works such as the Pietà. In 1962 the Marble Museum was opened, divided in five sections where the whole history of marble is collected : from the first works made with by the Romans until modern sculptural works.

The industry and the craft of Carrara marble today extends its name and its quality pretty much all over the world. The town of Pietrasanta is the centre of the crafts works. But marble is not just material for works of art, it has strongly entered everyday life for the inhabitants of the area. In Colonnata, the small town behind Carrara castled up among the quarries, blocks of marble are excavated to create the so-called "conche" (hollows) where, under a layer of salt and spices lard is placed to season. And only with this procedure, and using marble, can this very tasty cured meat be obtained.

Marble museum (Currently in Italian only)
Accademia di belle arti (In Italian)
A brief story of the Academy