Carrara Marble Mountains
Author: Daiga Rudzāte0 COMMENTS
Bits and pieces from Carrara Mountains have been brought to my home in various ways over the years, and this summer I finally went to see the legendary place myself. It has always possessed an irresistible fascination for everyone who is addicted to art history and its relics. A small Italian town Carrara spreads out at the mountain's foot on the borderline between Tuscany and Liguria. It's also the exact place marking the beginning (or the end) of the famous Tuscany wine trail. Driving from Genova in the direction of Livorno, leaving behind glamorous Portofino and picturesque Cinque Terra, majestic white mountains appear in the distance. At first glance, their dazzling whiteness looks like to snow, which seems incredible in the heat of Italian summer.
Carrara history, reaching back into Roman times is entwined with many myths and legends. Certainly the most prominent is the one about Michelangelo's David being carved from Carrara's white marble. Michelangelo first travelled to Carrara in the age of 23 to find the best stone for the famous Vatican Pietà. From that time on marble became both his passion and curse. These white mountains kept the sculpturer captivated and enthralled for the rest of his life, invoking impressive and difficult to realize projects in his mind. He was destined to be dragged into conflicts with the omnipotent Medici family (there is 130 km from Carrara to Florence) and to spend his life searching for the perfect block of stone. Michelangelo's house in Carrara is as important tourist destination as the Carrara Cathedral (made of the local marble, of course), and on summer evening clatter of stonecutters' instruments can still be heard the streets of the town.
Almost nothing has changed there since Michelangelo times - even nowadays many locals are passionate stone cutters, only modern, miracle-working machines are now rising above the quarry. Follow the signs "cave carrara marmot", and a winding way will lead you to many marble quarries. Here and there, marble pieces are stacked up at its sides. There is even an inviting note, telling that you can take as much as you wish and fill up the trunk of your car. Its wheels turn white with marble dust, the same way as your feet from wandering among marble blocks. The monumental mountain peaks are still striving to reach the sky, making you wonder how on earth they haven't been leveled to the ground during the centuries. It's advisable to return by the same route as you came there as the other one is just a narrow tunnel carved through the cliff. It must have looked much the same in those ancient days when pieces of marble were carried down to the town on mule-backs.
Photo: Ģirts Muižnieks
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