Carrara

Susan
4–6 minutes

Look up from almost anywhere on this coast and you’ll see what look like snowfields on the mountains. They aren’t snow. They’re the marble quarries of Carrara, worked for over two thousand years, and the town below lives and breathes stone.

Carrara is a working town, not a pretty postcard, and I like it for that. I haven’t spent much time here myself, so this page sticks to the facts. Here’s my guide to the town, the quarries and the villages of the comune.

Carrara quick facts

  • Province: Massa-Carrara
  • Population: 59,723 for the whole comune (ISTAT estimate, 1 January 2026)
  • Altitude: about 100 metres in town, at the foot of the Apuan Alps
  • Station: Carrara-Avenza, on the coast line, a bus ride from the centre
  • Lucca: about 56 km by road, roughly an hour
  • Pisa: about 65 km by road, roughly an hour

A short history of Carrara

Marble from these mountains was quarried in Roman times and shipped from Luni, the Roman colony just along the coast. The town grew up in the valley of the Carrione river, where the stone came down from the mountains.

Carrara shared its rulers with Massa: the Malaspina and then the Cybo-Malaspina, princes of Carrara. Alberico I built a new circuit of walls and the square named after him, Piazza Alberica. The Accademia di Belle Arti was founded in 1769, to train sculptors and stonemasons, and since 1806 it has been in the old castle-palace of the Malaspina.

Quarry work was hard and dangerous, and Carrara has a long tradition of anarchism and workers’ movements. The town’s motto is Fortitudo mea in rota, my strength is in the wheel. In the Second World War the area was right behind the German lines and suffered terrible massacres of civilians, and Carrara was liberated on 11 April 1945.

What to see in Carrara

The quarries. There are three quarry basins above the town, Torano, Miseglia (Fantiscritti) and Colonnata, each in its own valley. At Fantiscritti there’s a cava-museo, a quarry museum, and guided tours run up to the working quarries. Wear proper shoes.

The Duomo. The cathedral of Sant’Andrea, Romanesque and Gothic, in marble of course. On the square is the house where Michelangelo stayed when he came to Carrara.

Piazza Alberica. The big square of the 17th-century town, lined with Baroque palazzi.

The museums. The Museo civico del marmo, on the history of marble; CARMI, on Carrara and Michelangelo; and the mudaC, for contemporary art, in the old convent of San Francesco.

A few practical tips. The quarries are working sites, so stay on the marked routes and with your guide, and keep well clear of the lorries. Go up in the morning, when the light on the marble is best and before the heat of the day in summer. Allow half a day for the quarries and Colonnata, and another couple of hours for the town and its museums. Check opening days before you go, as smaller museums often close on Mondays and out of season.

For more on the coast below, see my guide to the Versilia beaches, and for the mountains behind, the Garfagnana.

The villages of Carrara

Carrara’s villages are quarry villages. Colonnata, Torano, Miseglia, Bedizzano and Codena sit up in the marble valleys, where generations of quarrymen lived. Colonnata, at the top of its valley, is the most famous, for its lardo. Castelpoggio and Gragnana are higher up and quieter.

Down on the plain are Avenza, with the station, and Marina di Carrara, the port where the marble is loaded onto ships, with a beach as well.

All the villages of Carrara (22)

Avenza, Battilana, Bedizzano, Bergiola, Campo Cecina, Castelpoggio, Cavaiola, Codena, Colonnata, Fontia, Fossola, Fossone, Gragnana, L D Canaletto, La Foce, Marina di Carrara, Miseglia, Nazzano, Noceto, Sant’Antonio, Sorgnano, Torano

For the neighbouring towns, see Villages of Massa-Carrara province.

Food and festas

The thing to eat here is lardo di Colonnata, a protected IGP product: pork fat cured in marble basins with salt, pepper and herbs, sliced paper thin and laid on warm bread. It sounds odd and tastes wonderful. The local white wine is Candia dei Colli Apuani.

The patron saint is San Ceccardo. The mudaC holds works from the international sculpture biennials held here. For local festivals, see sagre month by month, and for markets, Tuscany market days.

Getting to Carrara

By train, get off at Carrara-Avenza on the coast line between Pisa and La Spezia, and take a bus or taxi up to the centre. By car, it’s off the A12 motorway. The quarry roads are narrow and busy with marble lorries, so if you’re not confident, book a guided quarry tour with transport rather than driving up yourself.

Where to stay

Carrara itself has few places to stay. Most people visit from the coast, or from Lucca as a long day trip. For the bigger picture, my where to stay in Tuscany guide weighs up villages, towns and agriturismi, and where to stay near Lucca and the Svizzera Pesciatina covers my old patch.

Useful numbers

In any emergency, call 112. The main hospital for the province is the Ospedale delle Apuane, Via Enrico Mattei 21, Massa, with a 24-hour Pronto Soccorso (A&E).

Every other number you might need, from the doctor to the train strike line, is in my useful numbers in Tuscany post.

Map

Carrara is one of the towns of Massa-Carrara province. See Carrara on the Massa-Carrara page, or browse all of Villages of Tuscany.

Susan x