There were known settlements in the area as early as the ninth century BC, when the Apuan Ligures lived in the region. The current town originated from the borough built to house workers in the marble quarries created by theRomans after their conquest ofLiguria in the early second century BC. Carrara has been linked with the process of quarrying and carving marble since the Roman Age. Marble was exported from the nearby harbour ofLuni at the mouth of the riverMagra.[5]
In the earlyMiddle Ages it was a Byzantine and then Lombard possession, and then, it was under theBishops of Luni who started to write the city's history when the EmperorOtto I gave it to them.[6] It turned itself into acity-state in the early 13th century; during the struggle betweenGuelphs and Ghibellines, Carrara usually belonged to the latter party. The Bishops acquired it again in 1230, their rule ending in 1313, when the city was given in succession to theRepublics of Pisa,Lucca andFlorence. Later it was acquired byGian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan.
At the end of the 19th century Carrara became the cradle ofanarchism in Italy, in particular among the quarry workers. The quarry workers, including the stone carvers, had radical beliefs that set them apart from others. Ideas from outside the city began to influence the Carrarese. Anarchism and general radicalism became part of the heritage of the stone carvers. According to aThe New York Times article of 1894 many violent revolutionists who had been expelled from Belgium and Switzerland went to Carrara in 1885 and founded the first anarchist group in Italy.[7] Carrara has remained a continuous 'hotbed' of anarchism in Italy, with several organizations located in the city. The Anarchist marble workers were also the driving force behind organising labour in the quarries and in the carving sheds. They were also the main protagonists of theLunigiana revolt in January 1894.
In 1929, the municipalities of Carrara, Massa andMontignoso were merged in a single municipality, calledApuania. In 1945 the previous situation was restored.
Fortitude Mea in Rota "My strength in the wheel". The wheel of the carriage made to transport marble blocks from quarry to load out during Roman Empire and after, is the symbol of Carrara.
According to theGrand Orient of Italy, the coat of arms of Carrara contains theComacina wheel, symbol of the ancient master stonemasons of Como.[8][9][10]
Ducal Palace (alsoPalazzo Cybo Malaspina, 16th century), now the seat of theFine Arts Academy. Built over pre-existingLombard fortification, it dates to the reign ofGuglielmo 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 byAlberico I in the late 16th century. Under the medievalloggia are exposed several ancient Roman findings.
Baroque church and convent ofSan Francesco, built in 1623–64 by order ofCarlo I Cybo-Malaspina.
Church of theSuffragio, begun in 1686 under design of Innocenzo Bergamini, and refurbished in the 19th century. The façade has a large marble portal inBaroque style, sculpted byCarlo Finelli and surmounted by abas-relief with the "Madonna and the Souls of the Purgatory".
Palazzo Cybo-Malaspina
Sanctuary of theMadonna delle Grazie alla Lugnola, consecrated in 1676 and designed by Alessandro Bergamini.
Church ofSanta Maria Assunta, at Torano. It has a 16th-century façade with a portal from 1554. The interior is on a nave and two aisles.
A Carrara marble quarryFaçade of the cathedralPalazzo Cybo MalaspinaCarrara marble exploitationMonte Sagro and nearby quarries
^Haegen, Anne Mueller von der; Strasser, Ruth F. (2013). "Carrara".Art & Architecture: Tuscany. Potsdam: H.F.Ullmann Publishing. p. 43.ISBN978-3-8480-0321-1.
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