Carrara, Tuscany, Italy

• published: 31 Dec 2014
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Visit Carrara, Tuscany, Italy - Tourism & Vacations in Carrara, Tuscany, Italy Travel Videos HD, World Travel Guide http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=World1Tube Carrara is a city and comune in the Province of Massa and Carrara (Tuscany, Italy), notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some 100 kilometres (62 mi) west-northwest of Florence. Economy and culture ============== Carrara marble has been used since the time of Ancient Rome; the Pantheon and Trajan's Column in Rome are constructed of it. Many sculptures of the Renaissance were carved from Carrara marble. In addition to the marble quarries, the city has academies of sculpture and fine arts and a museum of statuaries and antiquities, and a yearly marble technology fair. The local marble is exported around the world, and marble from elsewhere is also fashioned and sculpted commercially here. Main sights ================ Cathedral (Duomo, 12th century). Ducal Palace (also Palazzo Cybo Malaspina, 16th century), now the seat of the Fine Arts Academy. Built over pre-existing Lombard fortification, it dates to the reign of Guglielmo Malaspina, becoming in 1448 the permanent seat of the dynasty. It includes two distinct edifices: the Castello Malaspiniano, dating to the 13th century, and the Renaissance palace, begun by Alberico I in the late 16th century. Under the medieval loggia are exposed several ancient Roman findings. Baroque church and convent of San Francesco, built in 1623–64 by order of Carlo I Cybo-Malaspina. Palazzo Cybo-Malaspina Sanctuary of the Madonna delle Grazie alla Lugnola, consecrated in 1676 and designed by Alessandro Bergamini.