What to See in Massa: Attractions & Sights

More places of interest

Arco del Salvatore

The Arco del Salvatore is a triumphal arch in Massa, built in 1690 by Duke Carlo II Cybo-Malaspina to celebrate the birth of the Duchy of Massa. It served as an outer gate for the vanished Porta del Pino, or San Francesco.
What to see
The arch is decorated with large ashlar blocks of cavernous limestone, has four marble pillars, a commemorative plaque and the statue of the Saviour, which gives it its name.
It bounds piazza Santa Settimina, which in the past was the point of entry to the city from the northern gate, the demolished Porta di San Francesco, next to the duomo. Today the square is bounded by the arch and by a wall with niches that separates it from the bishop's palace.
Visiting
The arch is at the entrance to piazza Santa Settimina, by the duomo, in the historic centre of Massa. The sources consulted give no hours or visiting arrangements. The nearby piazza Duomo opens in front of the façade of the duomo, at the end of via Dante Alighieri, between the white of Apuan marble and the yellow of the bishop's palace.
Our editors' tip
In one of the niches of the wall of piazza Santa Settimina stands the Fontana del Battì, attributed by some to Michelangelo.
Porta Martana

Porta Martana, also called Porta Toscana, is the southern entrance to the city of Massa, in Renaissance style. It was built at the wish of Alberico I Cybo-Malaspina in 1557, replacing an earlier medieval gate; it is documented from 1564.
What to see
It stands in the Prado district, at a strategic point on the Via Pedemontana, which linked the city with the rest of the region, and forms part of the new circuit of walls, also wanted by Alberico I. For this reason other buildings rose in the area, such as the Sala d'Armi and the Bastione Martana, used for military training, and the squares of the same name, into which most of the city's streets flowed. Piazza Martana arises from the meeting of via Alberica, via Beatrice and via Bigini and was the place of military exercises.
The Scuderie Ducali or Sala d'armi, raised in the sixteenth century by a certain «Alberti», have a three-bay loggia and today house the barracks of the Polizia di Stato. The bastion has over time been turned into a body shop and then into a home, and the adjoining piazza Bastione now hosts a car park. The Martana air-raid shelter was built in the nineteen-forties to protect the population from the bombing that struck the city.
Visiting
The gate is in the Prado district, on the Via Pedemontana. After restoration in 2006 the air-raid shelter was reopened to the public and hosts exhibitions and conferences. The sources consulted give no opening hours: check with the Comune of Massa.
Our editors' tip
The shelter has three entrances, one behind the gate, one on via Bigini and one on via Prado; inside, a gallery about 300 metres long runs under part of the castle hill and holds a kitchen and toilets.
Museo Diocesano di Massa

The Museo diocesano of Massa, inaugurated in 2003, is housed in the Palazzo dei Cadetti, the former Bishop's Palace. It keeps the works of art, liturgical furnishings and sacred vestments of the cathedral of San Pietro e San Francesco and of other churches in the diocese.
What to see
The palace was built in 1580 by Prince Alberico I Cybo-Malaspina, at first for the younger sons of the family; over time it underwent various transformations until the Napoleonic age, when it was abandoned and fell into serious decay. With the Restoration Duchess Maria Beatrice d'Este gave it to Bishop Francesco Maria Zoppi, in office from 1822 to 1833, as the episcopal seat; that function lasted until 1970, when Bishop Aldo Forzoni moved his residence to the seminary.
The core of the route is the Treasury of the Cathedral, made up of precious sacred vestments embroidered in gold and silver, silver liturgical furnishings and episcopal insignia linked to the first bishops. Among the masterpieces are the Saint Leonard by Jacopo della Quercia, of 1420; a triptych of the Madonna enthroned with the Child and saints by Bernardino del Castelletto, of the last quarter of the fifteenth century, from the altar of the Bishop's Chapel; the marble Pietà by Felice Palma, of the first quarter of the seventeenth century; a seventeenth-century processional cross attributed to Gian Lorenzo Bernini; the reliquary statue of 1685 by the Lucca silversmith Giovanni Vambrè; the Croce di Tresana by Francesco Marti. Works by Agostino Ghirlanda, Domenico Fiasella and the Master of Montefloscoli are also displayed.
Visiting
The museum is in the Palazzo dei Cadetti, in Massa. The sources consulted give no opening hours or fees: check with the diocese.
Our editors' tip
Jacopo della Quercia's Saint Leonard, of 1420, is the oldest work among those cited by the sources: look for it, together with Felice Palma's marble Pietà.