What to see · Carrara

More places of interest

• Cave di Fantiscritti

  The Fantiscritti quarries, also called a' Fantiscritti, are white-marble quarries in the municipality of Carrara, in the Apuan Alps.

  What to see

  The name comes from a Roman-era bas-relief, of the third century AD, carved on a rock face, showing three deities, the «fanti», with a Latin dedication below, the «scritti». Since 1863 the original relief has been in the courtyard of the Academy of Fine Arts, and a replica stands on the spot.

  In the area there was a railway station, built for the Carrara Private Marble Railway and closed since 1964: it has been reused for the Museo delle Cave and is often a stage and setting for performances by artists. There is also a historic gantry crane here, in place since the nineteenth century, used to load the marble first onto the trains of the Marmifera, then onto the lorries that carry it to Marina di Carrara.

  Visiting

  The quarries are in the municipality of Carrara. The sources consulted give no opening hours or visiting arrangements for the Museo delle Cave or the area: check them.

  Our editors' tip

  For several years, because of the high landscape and environmental impact in an area rich in biodiversity and geodiversity like the Apuan Alps, the marble industry has been the object of a bitter environmentalist campaign for the closure of the quarries.

• Monte Borla

  Monte Borla is a peak of 1470 metres in the Apuan Alps, in the northern part of the range, set apart from the main watershed between the Ligurian Sea and Garfagnana.

  What to see

  It lies between Campocecina and the Foce di Pianza, at 1269 metres, the pass that separates it from Monte Sagro. On the summit, at 1470 metres, runs the boundary between the municipalities of Carrara and Fivizzano. The mountain is part of the Apuan Alps Regional Natural Park.

  At Monte Borla the layers of marble, worked by numerous quarries, are covered by layers of schistose rock and, near the summit, by masses of limestone; according to the sources, these quarries are the object of a hard-fought campaign by those who want them closed.

  Visiting

  The ascent to the summit is a hike and starts from the Campocecina plain, at the Rifugio Carrara, the only base indicated: you can choose a path through the woods or one a little more exposed, but very panoramic, along the seaward side. From the Rifugio Carrara it takes about thirty minutes. The sources consulted give neither the best season nor the state of the paths: check them.

  Our editors' tip

  Not far from the top is a masonry building called Casa Martignoni, built in 1923 by the entrepreneur Cesare Martignoni and now owned by the municipality.

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